Overview:
Topic 3 is about managing your food environment to support healthy eating. A food environment encompasses all the places you eat, including home, work, restaurants, and social gatherings.
Surrounding yourself with healthy foods is the most powerful strategy for improving eating behavior—if it isn’t there, you can’t eat it.
The two most common types of food environments in the US are food desert and food swamp.
The topic discusses strategies for making healthy choices in different settings, such as grocery stores, homes, and workplaces, as well as while eating out.
Topic Summary:
- Managing the food environment involves making strategic choices at grocery stores, including shopping the outside aisles, not shopping hungry, reading labels, watching out for marketing claims, using a shopping list, and doing a final check.
- At home, it’s important to communicate with family or roommates about the importance of your health goals and find ways to avoid temptation. These can be difficult conversations but are extremely important.
- Eating out should be an exception rather than the rule. When dining out, it’s vital to focus on whole foods, be careful with condiments and sauces, consider portion sizes, and be selective about restaurant choices.
- The most effective strategy for managing your food environment at work is bringing your own food.
