Student ID no.

Programme: BSc (Hons) Nursing (Adult)

Course : NURS 1418 Psychosocial Perspectives of Health

Cohort: 09/14

Month/Year: 2014-2015

Coursework Assignment Submission Time/Date
23rdApril 2015
By 5am
Word count: 2027

Introduction
The World Health Organization defines health as being ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. (WHO, 1948) This conveys that although the function of the body is important, there are other contributing factors such as a healthy mind and meaningful relationships which also pertain to an individual being of good health and well-being.
In the first instance, this essay will shed light on the diet, why it is important and the damaging effects it can have on the body. As an individual who has been labelled as clinically obese, I am interested in the nutrition that the body requires, the quality of the food being consumed and whether certain dietary elements have addictive traits.
I will then go on discuss how the social factors, poverty and housing influence health before exploring how the psychological factors, stress and behaviour also impact on health.

Diet
Diet refers to a balanced selection of foods that we regularly consume for nutritional purposes, however the term has become associated to a restrictive dietary regime that an individual has adopted to lose weight, usually for health or aesthetic reasons.
From a sociological perspective, diet may be the consumption of food for nutritional purposes, but it is also closely related to class, upbringing, identity and culture. Some sociologists have associated high energy and nutritionally poor diets to those with a lower social status. They believe that the quality of diet reflects the socioeconomic standing and state that “energy-rich but nutritionally deficient foods tend