Food Eating habits „You are what you eat“

Why do we eat? And what? food/cooking is a big pleasure for some people - food is a necessity, we need to eat to live, however, we don´t live to eat - we need to eat a well-balanced diet to keep fit, stay healthy - well-balanced diet should contain vitamins, minerals, fibres and proteins - we should avoid eating too much junk food, sugar, salt or fat, and drinking too much caffeinated drinks - we should eat a lot vegetables and fruits to give our bodies enough energy and liquids. The importance of food

What do our eating habits depend on? Our eating habits are influenced by: - our family – parents influence childhood eating habits a lot and children usually adopt eating habits from them - our work – if people are busy, they eat just st small, or they skip some meals, if they have time, they eat a full course dinner - current economic situation – if you don´t have enough money, you can buy just cheap products, not of a good quality - current feelings- one day I feel like eating st sweet, the other day I eat st sour, or bitter - our lifestyle - some people don´t eat meat, they are vegetarians, others don´t eat any animals products - vegans

Ways of preparing food Home-made food – is prepared by ourselves at home, has got lots of advantages – it´s fresher, healthier and tastes better In Slovakia, it´s quite common to make meals at home and women spend a lot of time cooking. Convenience food/ready-made food – is precooked food, such as tinned or frozen food adv. – it is easy and quick to prepare, on the other hand – it contains a lot of unhealthy additives, isn´t as healthy as home-made food. Many people living on their own prefer this style of eating.

Eating tips for a healthy diet Diet experts say we should eat four or five times a day and in small portions We should eat regularly, not skip the meals, most of all breakfast Eat foods from each of the basic food groups: fruits and vegetables, dairy products, cereal and grains, proteins. Try to eat in a relaxed atmosphere, not in a hurry. Not eat in incorrect time – too late before sleeping We should drink enough liquids, mostly plain tap water, the hotter is a day, the more you should drink

Breakfast is important as during the day we expend a lot of physical energy. Some people don´t eat it because they don't have time or are lazy to prepare it. Traditional breakfast in Slovakia mostly consists of sausages with ketchup or mustard, some buns and rolls with butter, cheese, ham and some vegetables, boiled egg or ham and eggs. A healtier alternative is cereals with milk. For breakfast we drink either coffee or tea, children usually drink a cup of cocoa. At the weekend people have more time, they can eat breakfast in peace as long as they want to enjoy their breakfast.

Dinner, a main meal of the day In Slovakia we have dinner at noon. It is a main and the largest meal of the day, consisting usually of a soup, main dish sometimes even a dessert. Students have lunch either in a school canteen, or at home or they buy something small. We eat different kinds of soup. The soup is clear or cream one, chicken or vegetable and a main dish may be something like fried chicken, or meat with rice, potatoes or pasta with some sauce. For dessert we can have a piece of pie, cake or ice cream.

Supper or lunch In Slovakia people don't eat so much in the evening. The meal eaten in the evening can be called supper, or lunch in Slovakia in comparison with the UK where there it is called a dinner. Usually people have some cold meal like ham, cheese, vegetables with bread or a roll and butter, yoghurt or a cup of milk. Sometimes, they take leftovers from dinner. Members of the family have different jobs, they come home at different times so it is not common to eat altogether. Ocassionally we go for a meal to the restaurant. But in Slovakia it is a rare occasion, usually if we celebrate something.

Slovak cuisine Every country has its traditional dishes. In Slovakia bread with salt was a meal which was used to welcome guests in the past. We have lots of traditional dishes. Most of them are made of potatoes or cabbage. Our traditional dish is „pirohy“ stuffed with salty sheep cheese or with potato filling. Usual favourite food of the Slovak cuisine is “sheep cheese dumplings” made of potatoes and served with sheep cheese and fried pieces of bacon. Among favorite cakes there are „makovník“/ a special poppy- seed cake or “buchty”/dumplings with cottage cheese or marmalade fillings. Typical Slovak soup eaten at Christmas is a sauerkraut soup.

Health problems of the present generation Obesity – has become a serious problem for a part of our population. More and more people nowadays, even children are becoming fat, or overweight. The reason is simple. People eat too much junk food and they do not have enough movement. It is necessary to change their lifestyle. People should go to fitness, gym, practise some sport or at least go for a walk to the nature. Also walking to work instead of driving should be a good advice to keep fit.