scholarly journals Does sugar sweeten the pill of low income? Inequalities in the consumption of various foods between Finnish income groups from 1985 to 2012

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Taru Lindblom
Keyword(s):  
Food Consumption ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Vegetable Consumption ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Sugar Consumption ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Healthy Eating Habits ◽  
Nationally Representative

Numerous studies have shown that social inequality can be reflected through poor food choices. Factors such as low-income, low level of education and low socio-economic position are associated with food consumption behaviours that are considered less beneficial. This study explores the disparities found among income and other socio-economic groups in terms of their food consumption shares. To find out how the food consumption patterns have developed in Finland, a nationally representative Household Budget Survey for the years 1985–2012 is used. Food consumption trends of the income quintiles are analyzed with ANOVA. The shares of food consumption expenditure spent on Meat, Vegetables, Fruit and berries, and Sugars are used as dependent variables; while education, age and household type are used as control variables. The disparities between the income groups have diminished, with meat and sugar consumption being most affected by the studied factors. Low income does not necessarily translate to a household’s less healthy eating habits. Rather, households in the lowest quintile are now depicted by the convergence of their fruit and vegetable consumption with the other income groups.

Observations of food consumption in a daycare setting

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Ahn ◽  
Michelle R. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Healthy Eating Habits

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the behaviors and social interactions among preschool children and their teachers during food consumption at a daycare facility. Using social cognitive theory, the goal is to identify how role modeling, rules, behaviors and communication shape these young consumers’ health-related food consumption and habits. Design/methodology/approach – This study was conducted in a US daycare facility among preschool children (aged four years) over a three-month period. Qualitative ethnographic methods included participant and non-participant observation of meals and snack-time. Findings – Findings from the observations revealed that teachers’ food socialization styles and social interactions with peers cultivate children’s food consumption. In addition, commensality rules set by the childcare institution also help children learn other valuable behaviors (e.g. table manners and cleaning up). Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted in one location with one age group so the results may not be generalized to all children. As more young children spend time in preschools and daycare centers, the understanding of how these settings and the caregivers and peers influence them becomes more important. Preschool teachers can influence their young students’ food consumption through their actions and words. Training teachers and cultivating educational programs about ways to encourage healthy eating habits could be implemented. Originality/value – The paper offers observations of actual behaviors among young children in a naturalistic setting.

scholarly journals Infant Food Security in New Zealand: A Multidimensional Index Developed from Cohort Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Schlichting ◽  
Ladan Hashemi ◽  
Cameron Grant
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Vegetable Consumption ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Dietary Quality ◽  
Infant Food ◽  
Minority Ethnic Groups ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Demographic Covariates

Food security (FS) during infancy is associated with lifelong outcomes. New Zealand is a developed economy that reports poor childhood nutrition-related health statistics, particularly among minority children, yet has no measure of FS applicable to infancy. The objective was to develop an FS index for New Zealand infants and examine its association with demographic covariates and health outcomes. Within a large (n = 6853) nationally representative cohort, variables describing infant food consumption, breastfeeding, and maternal food-related coping methods were collected from mothers during late infancy. An FS index was derived using confirmatory factor analysis. Associations were assessed by logistic regressions and described using odds ratios (OR) and ≥95% confidence intervals (CI). Fifteen percent of the cohort was highly FS, 43% tenuously food insecure (FIS), and 16% highly food insecure (FIS). Infants from minority ethnic groups had lower odds of being food secure, as did those born to the youngest mothers, mothers who smoked, or those who lived in low-income households. FIS infants had higher odds of morbidity. Interventions to improve infant FS should focus on improving dietary quality, and should give particular consideration to minority infants. We identified that FIS shows wide ethnic and socioeconomic inequity, and is associated with poorer health. The most important driving factors of FIS included poor quality weaning diets, as well as poverty and its proxies. Any interventions to improve infant FS should focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to recommended intake levels, and should give particular consideration to minority infants.

scholarly journals Smak för hållbar utveckling?

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-157
Author(s):  
Lolita Gelinder
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Lower Secondary School ◽  
School Subject ◽  
School Students ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Teachers And Students

In the school subject Home- and Consumer Studies, the curriculum includes knowledge about sustainable food consumption, i.e. the students should learn to make sustainable food choices. Previous research has shown that taste is an important factor when people choose what to eat. The purpose of this study is to investigate teaching about sustainable food consumption, by focusing on how teachers and students talk about taste during foodwork, more specifically what meaning that is construed in relation to taste and how this content may be understood in relation to different perspectives on taste. Video data from two classes of Swedish lower secondary school students is analyzed using pragmatic discourse analysis methods. The results show that taste is mainly used in terms of taste assessments and thus provide an understanding of taste as something fixed and unchangeable. A transactional perspective on taste is suggested as an alternative, working with taste as something changeable and reflexive. In this way teaching can be a part in students developing new taste experiences, which is crucial for wanting to change eating habits, or for learning to eat new dishes, and foods, which will be required in order for people to make sustainable food choices.

Ensuring Access to Fruits and Vegetables for the Nation’s Most Vulnerable – Contributions of WIC and SNAP

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dena R. Herman
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Supplemental Nutrition ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Supplemental Nutrition Program ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
The U.S

AbstractThe Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are critical programs in the U.S. because they form the basis of the nation’s nutrition and hunger safety net. SNAP has large effect nationwide offering nutrition assistance to 1 in 7 low-income Americans, while WIC serves more than half of all infants in the U.S. and a quarter of all children ages 1-5 years. Despite the reach of these programs, there is still room for improvement, especially when it comes to increasing access to healthy food items and improving eating habits. The objective of this paper is to make recommendations for how WIC and SNAP can work better together to continue to incentivize purchases and support low-income population’s knowledge and access to healthier food choices, particularly those foods that have traditionally been most expensive – fruits and vegetables.

scholarly journals U.S. Sustainable Food Market Generation Z Consumer Segments

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su ◽  
Tsai ◽  
Chen ◽  
Lv
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Product Attributes ◽  
Environmental Consciousness ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Ecological Awareness ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
Healthy Eating Habits

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.

scholarly journals Nudging in der Schulmensa: Verhaltenswissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse können Ernährungsgewohnheiten positiv beeinflussen

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-125
Author(s):  
Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch ◽  
Philipp Thoste ◽  
Valentin Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Eating Habits ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Healthy Eating Habits ◽  
Decision Environment ◽  
Health And Development ◽  
Weil Eine ◽  
Unbalanced Diet ◽  
Nutrition Habits ◽  
School Cafeteria

Zusammenfassung: Die Ernährung beeinflusst maßgeblich die Gesundheit und Entwicklung von Kindern. Weil eine unausgewogene Ernährung zu Konzentrationsstörungen und Müdigkeit beitragen kann, steht sie potenziell einem erfolgreichen Schulalltag entgegen. Ein (un-)gesundes Ernährungsverhalten wird früh in der Kindheit erlernt und bleibt oft bis in das Erwachsenenalter bestehen, sodass der Ernährungsbildung in Kindergärten und Schulen eine wichtige Rolle zukommt, um langfristig gesunde Essgewohnheiten zu entwickeln. Veränderungen der Rahmenbedingungen für die Essenswahl in der Schulmensa ohne Einschränkungen des bestehenden Essensangebots, sogenanntes Nudging, können Kinder unterstützend zu einer gesünderen Ernährungsweise animieren. Ziel des Beitrags ist es, die Anwendbarkeit verschiedener Nudges in der Schulmensa aufzuzeigen und hinsichtlich ihrer Effektivität zu bewerten. Summary: Nutrition affects children’s health and development. Since an unbalanced diet can contribute to concentration disorders and fatigue, it potentially hinders success at school. Healthy or unhealthy nutrition habits are adopted early in childhood and often extend to adulthood. Nutritional education in kindergartens and schools therefore plays a significant role in developing long-term healthy eating habits. Changes in the decision environment in the school cafeteria that do not restrict the available food choices, so-called nudging, can encourage children to choose a healthier diet. This paper discusses the applicability and effectiveness of different nudges in the school cafeteria.

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