SUMMARY

Health is a fundamental concern of our society. Since the 1980s, the concern about the relation between eating habits and many different diseases (cardiovascular, cancer, obesity, etc.) has noticeably increased and diet has become one of the main focuses of Public Health. It is believed that economic development and changing lifestyles have led to the abandonment of traditional diets, considered healthier than the present ones, and all food items have been doubted as "risk factors": fat, sugar, proteins, "exciting" substances like coffee and tea, food additives. This way, for example, one of the most important challenges in the field of public health is what has already been called the “epidemic of the XXI century” by the World Health Organization, obesity, with serious consequences on life expectancy and quality. In the case of children, the problem is even more worrying, since 16.1% of them between 6 and 12 years old are overweight.

The development of a less healthy diet has many root causes and factors derived from the radical change the ways of life have experienced: 1) changes in lifestyle, moving from a rural society with a demanding physical effort to a completely sedentary life in which sport and other forms of entertainment are being displaced by activities that do not require any physical effort, and 2) changes in the diets in terms of consumption of unhealthy diets: the diet of children and young people gets away from the 'Mediterranean diet' by increasing the consumption of meat products, dairy foods, bakery and carbonated beverages and by reducing the intake of fish, fruits, vegetables and cereals. Therefore, it is considered that the diet-related health problems require a coordinated response by all actors involved: food industry, advertising sector, education community, the various Administrations and consumers in general.

The above diagnosis refers to profound changes in lifestyles and diet: increased consumption of meat products, dairy, bakery and carbonated beverages and reduced intake of fish, fruits, vegetables and cereals. Hence, it is proposed, among other things, that the industry progressively reduces the fat, sugar and salt foods, and modifies the content and target of its advertising.

The diagnosis seems to be acceptable but not very accurate. Besides saying that increased consumption of dairy, bakery and carbonated beverages is taking place, we could also say that the consumption of no previously prepared food is also increasing, along with the facts of eating at any time and place and on an individual, unaccompanied basis. And apart from saying that the intake of fish, fruits, vegetables and cereals decreases, we could also highlight the lower intake of foods that need to be cooked and are part of dishes or meals more or less structured, which take place within relatively accurate times, places and circumstances. In other words, the accent is placed on "foods" instead of "meals”, emphasis is more often put on the ingested or non-ingested products than on the attitudes and reasons for intakes.

The need for a better food education and learning is also repeatedly stressed. This need cannot be questioned, but what is exactly what must be learned, by whom and for what?

We must not forget that despite the rules internalized by most of the population show a high appropriation of the nutritional discourse, there is no direct correspondence between the dietary recommendations accepted by the people and their actual consumption. It is therefore important to find out why people, even though they know the consequences, they behave so dangerously against their health. Nor should we forget that health is not the only motivation to eat or to do it in a certain way and that the dieting habits meet many different motivations in addition to nutrition, such as sociability, hedonism, gratifications, the self-image etc. In this sense, the food industry plays its role: it puts on the market the widest possible range of products composing a great offer that covers the different demands of consumers. Today, in our tolerant, individualistic and free market society, consumers are choosing the components of their diet and take their particular lifestyle.

According to this, one should not expect major changes as a result of a greater food information or education. A case apart is, without a doubt, that of children and teenagers. However, if we are to improve nutrition, we should know more about the causes and consequences of changing lifestyles and eating habits that accompany them. We must consider the practices that are harmful to human health as well as aspects of cultural life, as determined by socio-cultural factors. For example, we must analyze the implications for diet and health of issues such as: 1) early education and extension of it, 2) the breakdown in culinary learning and the schedule constraints, 3) the effects of a greater tolerance and consent to the individual taste preferences, and 4) the profusion of contradictory nutrition messages.