scholarly journals McHealthy

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa K. Chan ◽  
Robert Kwortnik ◽  
Brian Wansink

Food choices are often habitual, which can perpetuate unhealthy behaviors; that is, selection of foods high in sodium, saturated fat, and calories. This article extends previous research by examining how marketing incentives can encourage healthy food choices. Building on research examining marketing incentives, temporal goals, and habitual behavior, this research shows that certain incentives (behavioral rewards vs. financial discounts) affect individuals with healthy and less healthy eating habits differently. A field study conducted at a corporate cafeteria and three lab studies converge on a consistent finding: The effects of marketing incentives on healthy food choice are particularly prominent for people who have less healthy eating habits. Results showed that behavioral rewards generated a 28.5% (vs. 5.5%) increase in salad sales; behavioral rewards also led to 2 pounds more weight loss for individuals with less healthy eating habits. The research offers important implications for scholars, the food industry, consumers, governments, and policy makers.

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazi Enamul Hoque ◽  
Kazi Fardinul Hoque ◽  
Revethy A/P Thanabalan

Background Building healthy eating habit is essential for all people. School and family are the prime institutions to instill this habit during early age. This study is aimed at understanding the impact of family such as parents’ educations and incomes on building students’ healthy eating habits. Methods A survey on building students’ eating habits was conducted among primary school students of grade 4 (11 years) and 5 (12 years) from Kulim district, Malaysia. Data from 318 respondents were analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to find the present scenario of their knowledge, attitude and practices towards their eating habits while one-way ANOVA and independent sample t-test were used to find the differences between their practices based on students’ gender, parents’ educations and incomes. Results The study finds that the students have a good knowledge of types of healthy food but yet their preferences are towards the unhealthy food. Though the students’ gender and parents’ educations are not found significantly related to students’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards healthy eating habits, parents’ incomes have significant influence on promoting the healthy eating habit. Discussion Findings of this study can be useful to guide parents in healthy food choices and suggest them to be models to their children in building healthy eating habits.


PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazi Enamul Hoque ◽  
Megat Ahmad Kamaluddin ◽  
Ahmad Zabidi Abdul Razak ◽  
Afiq Athari Abdul Wahid

BackgroundOverweight and obesity have increased rapidly in incidence to become a global issue today. Overweight and obesity problems are significantly linked to unhealthy dietary patterns, physical inactivity and misperception of body image. This study aimed to determine whether Malaysian children build healthy eating habits from childhood.MethodsA survey on eating habits was conducted among primary school students in standards 4 to 6 in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The findings of the study were reported in the form of descriptive statistics involving frequencies and percentages. Data from 400 respondents were analyzed.ResultsOur findings showed that the students understood the definition of healthy food and the types of food that are considered healthy. Although the students knew that food such as deep-fried drumsticks and hamburgers contain a high amount of saturated fat and cholesterol, these foods were still consumed by them. There was also a high consumption of foods that are fried and contain sugar, salt and saturated fat. In choosing food, two major factors contributed to the students’ decisions: cleanliness (65.8%) and the preference of their parents (12.3%).DiscussionOur findings indicate that by implementing the Integrated School Health Program (ISHP) properly, students’ eating habits can be improved by creating a school with a healthy environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su ◽  
Tsai ◽  
Chen ◽  
Lv

This study explores the interaction between environmental consciousness and sustainable food attributes as predictors in the market segmentation process for sustainable foods with respect to United States (U.S.) Generation Z (Gen Z) consumers. This study was executed using a cross-national, web-based survey to analyze and categorize Gen Z female (n = 435) and male (n = 377) consumers between 18 and 23 years of age living in the continental United States. The objectives of this study were to classify U.S. Gen Z consumers into unique segments based on their environmental consciousness and to assess the functional relationships among the following: (a) their degree of ecological awareness; (b) the importance of the perception of sustainable food attributes; (c) their food choices associated with healthy eating habits; and (d) sociodemographics. Survey data were analyzed using cluster analysis of consumer groups based on environmental consciousness. Environmental consciousness was measured using a composite score of the environmental involvement scale and the environmental values scale. Gen Z consumers with high environmental consciousness (sustainable activists) and moderate ecological awareness (sustainable believers) considered more eco-friendly and healthy product attributes when purchasing sustainable food, whereas Gen Z consumers with low environmental consciousness (sustainable moderates) considered more extrinsic product attributes (e.g., price and convenience). Furthermore, the results indicate that food choices associated with healthy eating habits could be used to develop a profile for different eco-conscious Gen Z consumer groups. The contributions of this study are twofold. First, for academic researchers, this paper extends marketing segmentation research concerning environmentally sensitive young consumers. Second, for industry professionals, this study provides food retailers or food service operators with sustainable consumer values that will aid in the development of effective, green marketing strategies to better attract and meet the sustainability expectations of Gen Z—the consumer segment with the most spending power of any generation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (No. 11) ◽  
pp. 540-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. DE MAGISTRIS ◽  
A. GRACIA ◽  
J. BARREIRO-HURLÉ

 This study aims at testing a theoretical model explaining why people follow healthy eating habits and in particular to identify how the nutritional labels use influences this behavioural pattern. The results indicate that the individuals who utilise more often the nutritional labels follow healthier eating habits, such as avoiding snacking between meals, a lower intake of salt and avoiding the fat intake. According the factors explaining the label use, the health knowledge, the bad health status and being aware of the diet-health relation are found significant. Age and household size are the socio-demographic variables which also affect the nutritional label use and eating habits. Findings provide more evidence on the consumers' underlying motivations to pay attention to nutritional labelling, which allows evaluating the impact of the implementation of the Regulation EC 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutritional and health claims made on foods (Regulation EC 1924/2006). In addition, empirical results could help the local policy makers to establish appropriate market strategies to increase healthy eating habits by promoting the nutritional label use by consumers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Razan Shwayhat

Media has been blamed for long time and more these days for spreading bad eating habits, inactivity and making unhealthy food choices especially among children. Through my work in the media especially TV, I wanted to use the other side of media and influence healthy eating habits among children and adults. Competitions drive challenge and determination, I created the first Arabic weight loss competition for kids on TV titled "Ghizaak Sihtak" may be translated to " Eat Well Live Well  Competition". The competition allows kids to live their normal everyday life (not in camps) and teaches them how to make healthy choices, be more active and thus lose weight. The Ghizaak Sihtak Compeition helped many kids lose more than 20Kilos in around 6months and keep it off for 2 years so far. This year - the 5th season for   kids - 10 kids started are participating in this weight loss journey while many others are watching them and are affected with their stories. The Compeition is broadcasted on Roya TV.


2006 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Tucker ◽  
Jennifer D. Irwin ◽  
Meizi He ◽  
L. Michelle Sangster Bouck ◽  
Graham Pollett

Purpose: Preschoolers’ dietary intake behaviours are described from the perspective of their parents. Methods: A maximum variation sample of 71 parents of preschoolers participated in this qualitative study. Ten semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted. Two experienced moderators facilitated all focus groups, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Strategies to ensure trustworthiness of the data were employed throughout the study. Two team members independently performed inductive content analysis. NVivo software was used to code the emerging themes. Results: Parents identified food and food issues as key health-related behaviours among preschoolers. Parents discussed challenges to healthy eating, including time limitations and societal pressures, as well as methods for facilitating healthy food choices, including bribery, education, and being creative with food. Conclusions: Dietary intake is on the minds of preschoolers’ parents. Unfortunately, some methods that parents currently use to promote healthy food choices may be more detrimental than beneficial for children in the long term. Parents’ keen interest in their preschoolers’ eating habits may make them particularly receptive to learning about and facilitating healthy choices in more behaviourally appropriate ways. Widespread educational messages about the benefits and detriments of various strategies to facilitate healthy eating among preschoolers therefore seem warranted.


Foods ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
Monica Laureati

According to recent findings, action is urgently needed to promote healthy eating habits among children, especially to increase daily consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables [...]


Author(s):  
Winnie Wing Man Ng ◽  
Anthony Siu Wo Wong ◽  
Kin Cheung

This cluster randomized controlled trial (CRCT)-designed study aimed to explore the feasibility of a promotion pamphlet and/or WhatsApp as a suitable mode of delivery to promote healthy eating habits with fruit and vegetables (F&V) among firefighters. Convenience and snowball sampling methods were used. Forty-five firefighters from 23 fire stations were recruited and they all received the printed pamphlet, while the intervention group participants (n = 20) received additional teaching material through WhatsApp every two weeks for eight weeks. Feasibility outcomes included retention, practicality, and implementation. The participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention. There were significant improvements in the mean numbers of days consuming F&V (p = 0.002; p = 0.031) in the intervention group, and for fruit consumption (p = 0.033) in the control group between the baseline (T0) and 3 months after completion of intervention (T1). High levels of participants’ satisfaction with the intervention revealed that a full-scale CRCT of the WhatsApp-delivered intervention promoting healthy eating could be feasible, especially as a means of increasing the numbers of days they consumed F&V and the numbers of servings of these consumed per day.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leticia Elizondo-Montemayor ◽  
Diana Moreno-Sànchez ◽  
Norma G. Gutierrez ◽  
Fabiola Monsivais-Rodriguez ◽  
Ubaldo Martinez ◽  
...  

Hispanic children and those from low-socioeconomic status are predisposed to unhealthy eating habits and obesity.Aim. to implement an individualized, face-to-face, parent supported, and school-partnership dietetic intervention to promote healthy eating habits and decrease body mass index. Prospective school year dietetic intervention of 101 obese, Hispanic, low-socioeconomic school-age children representative of Monterrey, Mexico, consisted of anthropometrics, dietetic assessment, energy-restriction tailor-made daily menus, and parental education every three weeks. Student’st-test was used for means comparison. A significant decrease was found in body mass index percentile(96.43±3.32to93.42±8.12/P=0.00)and energy intake/day of −755.7 kcal/day(P=0.00). Among other energy dense foods with significant decline in servings/day and servings/week were processed meats(3.13 ± 1.43to2.19 ± 1.04/P=0.00and5.60 ± 1.75to4.37 ± 2.10/P=0.00, resp.), saturated fat(1.47 ± 1.08to0.78 ± 0.79/P=0.00and2.19±2.18to1.1±1.36/P=0.00), sweetened beverages(2.79±1.99to1.42±1.21and6.21±1.72to3.89±2.80/P=0.00), and desserts and refined-grain bakery(1.99±1.54to1.32±1.59and2.85 ± 2.54to1.57 ± 2.20/P=0.00). There was a significant increase in servings/day and servings/week of water(2.98 ± 2.02to4.91 ± 2.37and6.62 ± 2.03to6.87 ± 0.91/P=0.00, resp.) and nutrient dense foods such as fruits(1.31 ± 0.89to1.66 ± 0.96and3.34 ± 2.24to4.28 ± 2.43/P=0.00)and fish and poultry(3.76 ± 2.15to4.54 ± 2.25/P=0.00). This intervention created healthy eating habits and decreased body mass index in a high risk population. Trial registration number:NCT01925976.


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