The Big Picture
Many things affect what people eat, how much they eat, and how they feel about food. Some influences begin during infancy and continue throughout life. Others develop later.
A person’s food choices might relate to personal preferences, health, culture, religion, money, appetite, illness, or aging. Understanding these influences helps you see why eating habits differ from one person to another.
Look for Nova Scotia CCA Notes throughout this page for current provincial guidance.
Quick tip: Tap, click, or press Enter on any term with a dotted underline and an ⓘ icon to see its plain-English definition.
Start Here If You’re Overwhelmed
Focus on these core ideas:
- Personal food choices often develop in childhood and reflect taste, smell, appearance, and food preparation.
- A food allergy involves a body reaction with signs or symptoms. Severe reactions might become life-threatening.
- Food intolerance differs from food allergy because it does not involve the immune system and is less serious.
- Culture and religion influence food choices, preparation, and eating practices.
- Appetite changes with factors such as illness, medications, anxiety, pain, depression, sights, smells, and thoughts.
- Illness and aging both affect eating and nutrition in several ways.
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Course Notes: Key Ideas You Need to Know
What Nutrition Means
Nutrition includes the processes involved when the body takes in, digests, absorbs, and uses food and fluids.
Nutrients are substances that the body takes in, digests, absorbs, and uses.
Many different factors influence eating habits and nutrition throughout life.
Personal Choice
Food likes and dislikes often begin in childhood.
Personal preferences reflect several features of food:
- taste
- smell
- appearance
- preparation
These preferences help shape what a person chooses to eat.
Food Allergies
An allergy is a sensitivity to a substance that causes the body to react with signs or symptoms.
Food allergy reactions include:
- swelling of the lips, throat, tongue, or face
- skin rash
- coughing or difficulty breathing
- abdominal cramps
- nausea
- diarrhea
A severe allergic reaction might lead to anaphylactic shock. This is a life-threatening sensitivity to a substance and has the potential to be fatal.
Nuts and shellfish cause the most severe reactions described here. For some people, avoiding certain foods is a matter of life and death.
Food Allergy Versus Food Intolerance
A food intolerance produces a noticeable reaction to food, such as indigestion or diarrhea. It does not involve the immune system and is less serious than a food allergy.
| Food Allergy | Food Intolerance |
|---|---|
| Involves a sensitivity that causes signs or symptoms | Causes a noticeable reaction to food |
| Might involve serious reactions | Is less serious than a food allergy |
| Severe reactions include anaphylactic shock | Does not involve the immune system |
Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is one type of food intolerance.
People with lactose intolerance lack the enzyme lactase. Lactase is needed to break down lactose, the sugar in milk.
Because they lack lactase, they cannot digest milk.
Culture
Culture influences:
- dietary practices
- food choices
- food preparation
Cultural practices influence whether food is fried, baked, smoked, roasted, or left uncooked. Culture also influences the use of sauces and spices.
Many people think that eating healthfully means giving up familiar or traditional foods and following the eating patterns of the dominant culture . Nutrition communication and health teaching should respect cultural differences.
Health care providers need flexible approaches that make nutrition teaching culturally relevant.
CCA action: Your employer provides direction about food preparation and dietary considerations for clients with cultural dietary practices.
Religion
Religious practices influence the selection, preparation, and eating of food.
People within the same religious group do not always follow the same dietary practices. One person might follow all of them, another might follow some, and another might follow none.
CCA action: Be aware of and respect each client’s religious practices and special food preparation practices.
Nova Scotia CCA Note
Sorrentino’s Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker, 5th Edition tells you to respect clients’ cultural and religious food practices and follow employer direction for special cultural dietary practices.
In Nova Scotia, the current CCA Scope of Practice and Competency Framework makes this more specific. A CCA provides nutritional services according to the care plan and care-setting policies and procedures. The CCA respects each client’s culture, religion, dietary restrictions, food sensitivities, and preferences when providing nutrition support.
Why this matters in Nova Scotia: Nutrition support must stay aligned with the client’s care plan and workplace policies while respecting the client’s individual needs and preferences.
Official source: CCA Scope of Practice and Competency Framework
Last checked: September 18, 2026
Finances
Money affects food choices.
People with limited incomes often buy less expensive foods. Their diets might lack proteins and certain vitamins and minerals.
Appetite
Appetite means the desire for food.
Hunger leads a person to seek food and eat until the appetite is satisfied. Aromas and thoughts of food also stimulate appetite.
Several factors can cause a lack of appetite:
- illness
- medications
- anxiety
- pain
- depression
- unpleasant sights
- unpleasant thoughts
- unpleasant smells
Illness and Recovery
Appetite usually decreases during illness and recovery from injuries. At the same time, nutritional needs increase.
During illness and recovery, the body must:
- fight infection
- heal tissues
- replace blood cells
- replace nutrients lost through vomiting and diarrhea
Some diseases and medications lead to a sore mouth, which makes eating painful.
Loss of teeth affects chewing, especially when eating protein foods.
Illness also makes preparing and serving meals difficult.
Long-term care residents need good nutrition to correct or prevent health problems. Poor nutrition remains common among this group.
Aging
Several changes affect the appetite of older people:
- loss of teeth
- poor-fitting dentures
- vision impairments
- hearing impairments
- perceptual impairments
- fatigue
- loss of control over meal choices
These factors help explain why eating and appetite sometimes change with age.
Fast Review
Use these points for a quick review before your quiz or exam:
- Eating and nutrition reflect personal choice, allergies, food intolerance, culture, religion, finances, appetite, illness, and aging.
- Food preferences often begin in childhood and reflect taste, smell, appearance, and food preparation.
- An allergy is a sensitivity to a substance that causes signs or symptoms.
- Anaphylactic shock is a life-threatening allergic reaction with the potential to be fatal.
- Food intolerance does not involve the immune system and is less serious than food allergy.
- Lactose intolerance occurs when a person lacks lactase, which is needed to break down lactose in milk.
- Culture and religion influence food selection, preparation, and eating practices.
- Illness often lowers appetite even while nutritional needs increase.
- Limited income affects food choices and might lead to diets lacking proteins and certain vitamins and minerals.
- Aging-related factors include tooth loss, poor-fitting dentures, sensory or perceptual impairments, fatigue, and loss of control over meal choices.
Final Pep Talk
There are several factors to remember, so group them instead of trying to memorize one long list. Focus first on the major differences, especially food allergy versus food intolerance, then review the remaining factors in smaller groups.