Exploring Dietary Transition: Traditional Foods to Western Diets

This report examines the dietary transition from traditional to western food consumption patterns, focusing on an Australian perspective. It includes an interview with an elderly person discussing past food habits and observed changes over time. The report highlights the shift towards higher energy-dense diets, increased consumption of animal products, and the rise of fast food, while also addressing the positive aspects such as increased food availability. The analysis covers the impacts of dietary changes on health, including the rise in obesity and chronic illnesses, as well as the economic and environmental implications. The report references various studies and sources to support its findings on the evolving food landscape and its effects on individuals and society.

Dietary transition:
traditional to western foods
INTERVIEW
Dietary transition is referred to as the change in the pattern of food consumption (Ingram et al.,
2016). Dietary transition from traditional to western food has been observed among the
Australian individual (Ronto, Wu & Singh, 2018). The change has positive as well as negative
impact on the individual which is explained in the article.
With the passing time, the
change in the pattern of the
food consumption has also
changed over time. This
dietary changes has both
positive and negative impact
on the individual such as the
cases of obesity and
overweight has been
increased over the last few
years. The Australian has
changed their food habits
from traditional to western
diet. Apart from the positive
and negative impact on the
individual, it also has
impact on the socio-
economic condition. This
article primarily focusses on
the change of food pattern
that has occurred over time
among the Australian
individuals. In this article,
the transition of food habits
from traditional to western
has been discussed with the
help of result after
conducting the interview.
The article includes
evidence based rationale for
the change in the food
habits has been discussed in
detail. The dietary changes
have both positive and
negative impact on the
Australian individual which
is mentioned in the article
precisely.
In this article, the interview
has been conducted on an
elderly person regarding
food habit of that time and
the change in food habits
that has been observed by
them is discussed in the
interview. When asked
about their food habits
during the interview, the
respondent said that they
typically use to eat lentils,
chickpeas, burgual ,
freshly made bread,
vegetable stews , yogurt
dishes with cooked dough ,
soups and meat in every 2-
3 weeks. During the
interview information about
their common meal was
asked. The gentleman stated
that ‘ I used to take yogurt,
bread and cheese as
breakfast and halva
sandwich as snacks and
during the lunch we had veg
stews with rice all of which
are grown at our farm’.
The participant stated that,
they used to store all the
food items in several vessels
which are made either of
metal or glass. During their
time each and every
member of the family used
to prepare food and they ate
together at home. Stuffed
Chicken with rice, lamb,
barbeque, kebab, meat and
Pastries are made
occasionally. When asked
about the dietary transition
during the interview, they
stated that now-a-days more
items are available in the
market along with
restaurants where they can
eat whatever they want at
any time. The interviewee
stated that, there are certain
food of their times which
are no longer available
(from the interview
transcript).
Key fact or quote

Figure: dietary changes from 1995 to 2011
Source: (Ridoutt, Baird, Bastiaans, Hendrie, Riley,et al., 2016)
Figure: Dietary Transition
Source: (WHO, 2019)

Figure: Stages of Nutritional Transition
Source: (WHO, 2019)

Change in the pattern of food consumption:
According to WHO (2019), Dietary transition which is also known as nutrition transition includes
both the qualitative and quantitive changes in the specific diets of the individual. The diet had
shifted towards higher energy density diet by consuming fat, added sugar and excessive saturated fat
food. Intake of dietary fibres, green and fresh vegetables and complex carbohydrate has been
reduced. Now-a-days people rely more on fast food which has high fat content and is not good for
health (Popkin, 2016). There has been a considerable change in the practices of agriculture that have
caused a change in the consumption pattern of food.
Diets have been evolved exponentially over time by getting influenced from many factors such as,
economic and social factors, individual beliefs and preferences, income, cultural, social and
environmental factors. It also affects the ethnicity of the individuals as most of the major cities are
made up of diverse groups and thus, different food habits affects different cultural backgrounds. I
feel that now-a-days the individuals have a diet that is completely different from old times. The
consumption of animal meat has increased along with the marine fish. Thus, it is correctly predicted
that the annual production of meat will increase from 218 million tonnes in the year 1997 to 1990 to
about 376 million tonnes in the year 2030. In old times people used to have less options for the food
as compared to present days. They use to grow vegetables on their own and that the fresh vegetables
are cooked. Those days the people were unable to get every food item according to their need,
especially in case of seasonal foods (Ronto, Wu & Singh, 2018). However now-a-days each and
every food item is available throughout the year. Hence it is also responsible for the increased
consumption of vegetables and fruits. The consumption of food has been increased to around 369
gram per day/capita from 1992. Earlier they also use to eat raw food item which is not practised
frequently now.
The dietary transition or evolution has known to pose several negative and positive impacts on the
social, economic health of the individual. According to Ridoutt, Baird, Bastiaans, Hendrie, Riley,et
al., (2016), the western diets has been adapted extensively by the Australian individuals.
The nutritional transition have posed several positive effects such as, more choices of foods are
produced. Instead of getting seasonal food once or twice a year, they can be accessed any time
throughout the year.
Apart from the positive impact it has certain negative impact also. According to Jayawardena,
Ranasinghe, Wijayabandara, Hills and Misra, (2017), there is an exponential increase in the number
of cases of obesity among the adults in fast few years. It is due to the intake of high fat food. In
addition to obesity, cases of other chronic illness are also reported in increased amount. According
to a survey conducted by Ridoutt, Baird, Bastiaans, Hendrie, Riley,et al., (2016), percentage of
obese men is 56% and 70% in men in Australia, whereas the number of child suffering from obesity
is 26%. It also have direct effect on the economics of the place as to manage obesity and other
chronic illness, government have to develop schemes and programs whereas individuals also have to
spend more in order to stay healthy (Jaacks, Vandevijvere, Pan, McGowan, Wallace et al., 2015).
Apart from the health of the individual, effect of Dietary transition has also been observed in the
environmental sustainability as western diet is also responsible for increasing the intake of lie stock
products.

References:
Ingram, J. (2016). Sustainable food systems for a healthy world. Sight and Life, 30(1), 28-33.
Jaacks, L. M., Vandevijvere, S., Pan, A., McGowan, C. J., Wallace, C., Imamura, F., ... & Ezzati, M.
(2019). The obesity transition: stages of the global epidemic. The Lancet Diabetes &
Endocrinology.
Jayawardena, R., Ranasinghe, P., Wijayabandara, M., Hills, A. P., & Misra, A. (2017). Nutrition
transition and obesity among teenagers and young adults in South Asia. Current diabetes
reviews, 13(5), 444-451.
Naughton, S. S., Mathai, M. L., Hryciw, D. H., & McAinch, A. J. (2015). Australia’s nutrition
transition 1961-2009: a focus on fats-CORRIGENDUM. British Journal of
Nutrition, 114(6), 997-997.
Popkin, B. M. (2016). The emerging obesity epidemic: An introduction. In Geographies of
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Ridoutt, B., Baird, D., Bastiaans, K., Hendrie, G., Riley, M., Sanguansri, P., ... & Noakes, M.
(2016). Changes in food intake in Australia: Comparing the 1995 and 2011 National
Nutrition Survey Results disaggregated into basic foods. Foods, 5(2), 40.
Ronto, R., Wu, J. H., & Singh, G. M. (2018). The global nutrition transition: trends, disease burdens
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WHO. (2019). Global and regional food consumption patterns and trends. Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/trs916/en/gsfao_global.pdf
WHO. (2019). The Nutrition Transition and Global Food System Dynamics: The Accelerating
Speed of Change and Global Challenges We Face for Creating a Healthier Global Diet.
Retrieved from https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/seminar_9June2017_presentation.pdf