D. Healthy Living · Healthy Living

Inside and Outside Influences: Why People Eat What They Eat

D3.1 A1.4 A1.6About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can sort the influences on food choices into personal factors and external factors.
I can explain how food marketing, cost and where people live can affect eating habits.
I can suggest ways to encourage healthier eating at home, at school and in my community.

Words to know

personal factor
An influence that comes from inside a person, such as taste preferences, hunger, health needs, values, skills, emotions and knowledge.

external factor
An influence that comes from outside a person, such as family, culture, friends, media and advertising, cost, and what food is available nearby.

food marketing
Ways companies try to get people to buy their food: ads, packaging, cartoon characters, influencers, store displays and coupons.

food insecurity
Not having reliable access to enough safe, healthy food because of money or other barriers.

food environment
The places where people get food, such as stores, schools, restaurants and vending machines, and what those places offer.

traditional foods
Foods that have been part of a culture for a long time, such as foods gathered by hunting, fishing, trapping and harvesting in many First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.

Two shoppers, one store

Two Grade 7 students walk into the same convenience store with five dollars. One buys a bottle of water and an apple. The other buys an energy drink and chips. Why?

Part of the answer is inside each person: what they like, what they know, how they feel. Part is outside: what their friends buy, what's on sale, what's at eye level, and what ads they saw that morning. Today you'll learn to see both.

Remember from Grade 6

Last year you sorted influences on eating into medical, emotional, practical and societal factors. This year you'll group them another way, into personal (inside you) and external (outside you), and you'll go one step further: finding ways to make healthy eating easier for everyone, not only for yourself.

Personal factors (inside you)	External factors (outside you)
Taste and preferences: foods you like or dislike	Family: what's bought, cooked and served at home
Hunger and fullness	Culture and religion: traditions, celebrations, fasting, foods eaten or avoided
Health needs: allergies, celiac disease, diabetes	Friends and peers: what others are eating and drinking
Values and beliefs: for example, choosing vegetarian food or caring about the environment	Media and advertising: ads, influencers, packaging, product placement in videos and games
Knowledge and skills: reading labels, knowing how to cook	Cost and money: food prices, sales, food insecurity
Emotions: stress, boredom, celebration	Availability: what stores, schools and restaurants nearby offer; distance to a grocery store; season
Body image: how someone feels about their body	Time and schedules: busy family routines, sports, work hours

Personal and external factors that affect food choices and eating habits.

Food choices come from the inside (personal factors) and the outside (external factors). Most real choices mix both.

Food marketing: an external factor built to work on you

Food companies spend a lot of money on marketing. Some tricks to watch for:

Placement: sugary cereals and candy are often placed at children's eye level or right beside the checkout.
Packaging: bright colours, cartoon characters, toys, or words like "natural" and "made with real fruit" that sound healthy but may not mean much.
Influencers and games: a popular creator drinking a certain energy drink; branded items inside video games.
Deals: "2 for 1" or a giant size for only a little more money, which can push you to buy more than you want.

Noticing marketing is a personal skill that weakens the power of an external factor.

Placement is a marketing trick: products aimed at kids are often put right where a child's eyes land. Not to scale.

Where you live matters

In some places, it's harder to get healthy food. Some neighbourhoods have more fast-food outlets and convenience stores than grocery stores. In many remote northern communities, including many First Nations and Inuit communities, food often has to be flown or shipped in, so fresh food can be very expensive. Many communities respond with traditional foods from the land and water, community freezers and gardens, and food-sharing traditions, which are an important part of health and culture today.

When eating well is hard because of money or distance, it's not a personal failing. That's why the curriculum asks you to also look for ways to encourage healthier eating for others.

Ways to encourage healthier eating

At home: help plan and cook meals; keep fruit visible; make water the go-to drink.
At school: support a student nutrition (breakfast or snack) program; suggest healthy fundraisers (like selling plants or running a fun run instead of selling chocolate); ask for water bottle refill stations.
In the community: volunteer at a food bank or community garden; share family recipes; support local farmers' markets.
Online: call out misleading food claims; share easy, low-cost recipes.

Worked example

Let's sort the factors

Dev, age 12, buys a large slushie after every soccer game. He says: "It's what everyone gets, it's on sale for a dollar, the ad says it's 'refreshing', and I'm really thirsty after the game."

Find the personal factors: thirst after exercise (a body need) and liking the taste.
Find the external factors: friends all buy it (peers); the dollar sale (cost); the ad (marketing).
Ask: which factor can he use for a better choice? Thirst is real, so he needs a drink, but water meets that need better than a sugary slushie.
Plan: bring a cold refillable water bottle in his bag; if he still wants a slushie sometimes, choose the small size as an occasional treat.

Dev's choice comes from two personal and three external factors. Once he notices them, he can meet his real need (thirst) in a healthier way.

Worked example

Let's encourage healthier eating at school

Your class wants to raise money for a trip. Someone suggests selling chocolate bars. How could you suggest a healthier fundraiser respectfully?

Use empathy (A1.4): understand the goal. Everyone wants to raise money easily.
Offer alternatives that still work: selling bedding plants in spring, a car wash or fun run, selling reusable water bottles, or a healthy bake sale with recipes that use fruit and whole grains.
Communicate clearly: "I like the trip idea. What if we sold plants or held a fun run? It could raise as much money and support healthy habits."

You helped change an external factor (the school food environment) for everyone, using respectful communication.

Just for fun

What if stores put vegetables beside the checkout instead of candy? "Would you like a crunchy carrot with that?" Somebody's grocery bill would get a lot more orange.

Hands-on activity

Grocery store or flyer detective

You need: a trip to a grocery store with your grown-up, or a grocery flyer or online grocery site. Paper and pencil.

Look at the cereal aisle (or flyer page). What's at children's eye level? What's on the top shelf?
Find three examples of marketing (cartoons, health claims like "natural", sale signs, displays near the checkout). Write what each is trying to get you to do.
Compare the price of one fresh, one frozen and one canned vegetable. Which is cheapest per serving?
Ask your grown-up: "What external factors affect what our family buys?" (cost, time, culture, store distance...)
Write one idea to encourage healthier eating in your home or school.

What to look for: three marketing examples with a clear purpose, a price comparison, and one practical idea.

Your turn

Is this personal or external: you don't like the taste of mushrooms?

Is this personal or external: a store near your school sells pop for 99 cents?

Is this personal or external: you know how to make a stir-fry?

Is this personal or external: your family fasts during the day in Ramadan?

Name two food marketing tricks.

What is food insecurity?

Give one way to encourage healthier eating at school.

More practice: warm-up

Sort: friends share their chips with you at lunch.

Sort: you are allergic to sesame.

Sort: a video creator you follow drinks a certain sports drink.

Sort: you feel bored and want a snack.

True or false: if a package says "natural", the food must be healthy.

More practice: on your own

Why might fresh fruit cost much more in a remote northern community than in a city?

Explain how a personal skill can weaken an external factor. Give an example.

Your family has very little time on weeknights. Suggest two ways to eat well anyway.

How can traditional foods support health in many First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities today?

Why should we avoid blaming people for food choices shaped by cost or distance?

Challenge

Design a 30-second announcement for your school encouraging students to drink more water. Name the external factor you are changing and one personal factor you are appealing to.

Analyse this situation: a grocery store puts candy at the checkout of every lane. Who benefits, who might be harmed, and what is one possible change?

Choose one of your own eating habits. Name two personal and two external factors behind it, and write one strategy for each kind of factor.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is a personal factor?

Which is an external factor?

Why are sugary cereals often placed at children's eye level?

Food insecurity means...

Which is a way to encourage healthier eating at school?

What is the best first step when a package says "made with real fruit"?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: This lesson covers the Grade 7 expectation to demonstrate an understanding of personal and external factors that affect people's food choices and eating habits, and identify ways of encouraging healthier eating practices (D3.1). It builds relationship skills like empathy and respectful persuasion (A1.4) and critical thinking (A1.6).

How to help at home:

Shop together sometimes and talk about placement, sale signs and package claims.
Share how your own choices are shaped by time, cost and culture. This shows that factors affect everyone.
Invite your child to plan a healthy, budget-friendly meal.

Common difficulties: Some factors fit in both columns (for example, religion can be both a family practice and a personal value); accept answers with good reasons. Be sensitive if your family experiences food insecurity: the lesson stresses that cost and access are external factors, not personal failings. Community food programs and food banks are there for everyone who needs them.