18 research outputs found
Correlates of food choice in unemployed young people: The role of demographic factors, self-efficacy, food involvement, food poverty and physical activity.
yesAssociations between socio-demographic and psychological factors and food choice patterns were explored in unemployed young people who constitute a vulnerable group at risk of poor dietary health. Volunteers (N = 168), male (n = 97) and female (n = 71), aged 15–25 years were recruited through United Kingdom (UK) community-based organisations serving young people not in education training or employment (NEET). Survey questionnaire enquired on food poverty, physical activity and measured responses to the Food Involvement Scale (FIS), Food Self-Efficacy Scale (FSS) and a 19-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). A path analysis was undertaken to explore associations between age, gender, food poverty, age at leaving school, food self-efficacy (FS-E), food involvement (FI) (kitchen; uninvolved; enjoyment), physical activity and the four food choice patterns (junk food; healthy; fast food; high fat). FS-E was strong in the model and increased with age. FS-E was positively associated with more frequent choice of healthy food and less frequent junk or high fat food (having controlled for age, gender and age at leaving school). FI (kitchen and enjoyment) increased with age. Higher FI (kitchen) was associated with less frequent junk food and fast food choice. Being uninvolved with food was associated with more frequent fast food choice. Those who left school after the age of 16 years reported more frequent physical activity. Of the indirect effects, younger individuals had lower FI (kitchen) which led to frequent junk and fast food choice. Females who were older had higher FI (enjoyment) which led to less frequent fast food choice. Those who had left school before the age of 16 had low food involvement (uninvolved) which led to frequent junk food choice. Multiple indices implied that data were a good fit to the model which indicated a need to enhance food self-efficacy and encourage food involvement in order to improve dietary health among these disadvantaged young people
Self-efficacy, habit strength, health locus of control and response to the personalised nutrition Food4Me intervention study
YesPurpose – Randomised controlled trials identify causal links between variables but not why an outcome has
occurred. This analysis sought to determine how psychological factors assessed at baseline influenced
response to personalised nutrition.
Design/methodology/approach – Web-based, randomised, controlled trial (RCT) was conducted across
seven European countries. Volunteers, both male and female, aged over 18 years were randomised to either a
non-personalised (control) or a personalised (treatment) dietary advice condition. Linear mixed model analysis
with fixed effects was used to compare associations between internal and external health locus of control
(HLoC), nutrition self-efficacy (NS-E) and self-report habit index (S-RHI) at baseline (N 5 1444), with healthy
eating index (HEI) and Mediterranean diet index (MDI) scores between conditions post-intervention (N 5 763).
Findings – An increase in MDI scores was observed between baseline and six months in the treatment group
which was associated with higher NS-E (pEU FP7 Project “Personalised nutrition: an integrated analysis of opportunities and challenges” (Contract No. KBBE. 2010.2.3–02, Project No. 265494
Making personalised nutrition the easy choice: creating policies to break down the barriers and reap the benefits
YesPersonalised diets based on people’s existing food choices, and/or phenotypic, and/or genetic information
hold potential to improve public dietary-related health. The aim of this analysis, therefore, has been to
examine the degree to which factors which determine uptake of personalised nutrition vary between
EU countries to better target policies to encourage uptake, and optimise the health benefits of personalised
nutrition technology. A questionnaire developed from previous qualitative research was used to
survey nationally representative samples from 9 EU countries (N = 9381). Perceived barriers to the uptake
of personalised nutrition comprised three factors (data protection; the eating context; and, societal
acceptance). Trust in sources of information comprised four factors (commerce and media; practitioners;
government; family and, friends). Benefits comprised a single factor. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was
employed to compare differences in responses between the United Kingdom; Ireland; Portugal; Poland;
Norway; the Netherlands; Germany; and, Spain. The results indicated that respondents in Greece, Poland,
Ireland, Portugal and Spain, rated the benefits of personalised nutrition highest, suggesting a particular
readiness in these countries to adopt personalised nutrition interventions. Greek participants were more
likely to perceive the social context of eating as a barrier to adoption of personalised nutrition, implying a
need for support in negotiating social situations while on a prescribed diet. Those in Spain, Germany,
Portugal and Poland scored highest on perceived barriers related to data protection. Government was
more trusted than commerce to deliver and provide information on personalised nutrition overall. This
was particularly the case in Ireland, Portugal and Greece, indicating an imperative to build trust, particularly
in the ability of commercial service providers to deliver personalised dietary regimes effectively in
these countries. These findings, obtained from a nationally representative sample of EU citizens, imply
that a parallel, integrated, public-private delivery system would capture the needs of most potential
consumers.Food4me is the acronym of the EU FP7 Project ‘‘Personalised nutrition: an integrated analysis of opportunities and challenges” (Contract No. KBBE.2010.2.3-02, ProjectNo.265494), http:// www.food4me.org/