SRS-Food choices and health outcomes.pptx V4
- 1. THERESA KONESKI DR. DOUGLAS MURRAY DR. RENATA BLUMBERG DR. SHAHLA WUNDERLICH
- 2. Outline Purpose Methods Sample Results Conclusion
- 3. Purpose Examine whether there is a disconnect between knowledge & behavior To what extent does the disconnect exist Assess attitudes toward different foods & if those attitudes are portrayed at the point of consumption in order to answer the research question: The average person has at least some basic nutrition knowledge, so why are consumers choosing certain foods (i.e. potato chips) over others (i.e. celery sticks)?
- 4. Research Hypotheses 1. There is a correlation between consumer attitudes regarding what they believe to be a healthy option to eat and what they are actually consuming. 2. The convenience of food items will affect the consumer’s choices and what they ultimately eat. 3. Environmental variables positively correlate with what an individual chooses to consume
- 5. Significance Research addressed factors that influence with meal selection Psychological/social factors Mood Sensory cues Cultural differences & similarities within the realm of dietary patterns & practices were detected while studying abroad Studied small groups to discover the extent of the disconnect between consumers nutritional knowledge and their behaviors
- 6. Mixed Methods Entrance surveys (n=47) 1-3 Dietary recalls (dr=70) Semi-structured interviews (n=26)
- 7. Sample Convenience sampling: Post graduate students in a large university in England Post graduate students in a large university in Northern NJ Concentrations in Health, Nutrition, Exercise Science, Psychology, & Tourism Majority 24-29 years old Second largest group 18-23 years old Few reported having high blood pressure, cholesterol, & pre-diabetes Under addressed population
- 8. Question Categories & Examples Questions about nutrition knowledge: It is important to limit foods high in fat and/or sugar. It is not important to limit foods high in salt. How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you think you should eat in a day? Dietary behavior questions: How often do you make conscious efforts to try and eat a healthy diet? I try to keep the amount of fat I eat to a healthy amount. Reasons behind dietary perceptions & behavior: My knowledge of nutrition does not affect my rate of unhealthful food consumption. My health matters a great deal to me. I believe the food I eat affects my health. I feel I know enough about nutrition to make healthier choices.
- 9. Preliminary Results: Emergent Themes Lack of Motivation • I feel I know enough about nutrition to make the healthy choice, I’m just too careless to make that effort Time Constraints • I would be happy to eat healthier, I just don’t have the time needed to do that right now Perception of Insufficient Skill • Eating healthier would mean I would have to know how to prepare healthier foods
- 10. Preliminary Results Major Findings • Significant inconsistency between participants stated attitudes & actual behavioral practices • Eating a healthy diet is important to me, I just can’t do it right now Quantitative Results • Trending to describe that there is general nutritional knowledge & awareness • Behavior seems to be lacking
- 11. Conclusions Strong indication of nutritional knowledge: Importance of a proper diet Eating healthy was a priority Lifestyle & environmental factors got in the way of dietary practices Implications for educators, practitioners, & policy planners: Not a knowledge-based issue Behaviorally-focused programming Need to focus on prioritizing health in practice Learning quick, easy & simple DIY strategies
- 12. Future Research Sampling limitations Convenience sampling limited determination of sampling errors Participants interested in topic to volunteer & remain for duration of study Advanced degree participants Drop out rate of study Future research: Utilize stratified sampling method Diverse group of participants Stage of motivation to change behavior
Editor's Notes
- #2: Opening: Introduce yourself Explain your currently working on your thesis Went abroad to take classes and collect data Right now these are preliminary findings
- #4: Posing the following research question because research has indicated there is a disconnect between consumers nutritional knowledge and their behavior in regards to what they are actually consuming, Therefore we had an a-priori assumption that the disconnect exists and the purpose is to examine the extent of the disconnect. Secondarily, to assess if the target population is eating for nutritious reasons, or solely eating for pleasure, in order to see what people’s attitudes toward different foods are and if those same attitudes are portrayed at the point of consumption in order to answer the research question: In developing the research question, one of the things considered is do people have a basic understanding of nutrition. Popular culture has shown that there is a greater general awareness and interest in nutrition.
- #5: formal research hypotheses as posed in my formal thesis And what I will be trying to confirm
- #6: Research has addressed there are a numerous factors besides hunger that interfere with meal selection Studying abroad numerous cultural differences and similarities were detected compared to the United States, most notably within dietary patterns & practices. This original research used the phenomenological approach of studying small groups deeply to gain rich content primarily to discover the extent of the disconnect between consumers nutritional knowledge and their behaviors in regards to what they are actually consuming, And evaluating these dietary practices to assess the impact on health, thus filling a gap in the literature.
- #7: Phenomenological approach in order to study and attempt to understand the participants perceptions, perspectives, & understandings regarding their dietary behaviors. Participants completed entrance surveys regarding their nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Following up with the initial survey the participants completed three 24-hour dietary recall surveys once a week for three consecutive weeks. The participants must be willing to complete surveys for three different days, therefore minimizing bias on the part of the participant, because if an individual is aware they are being studied they usually do not behave as they normally would. Evaluating on separate occasions allows for more meals to be assessed, and therefore enabling the ability to get a better idea of the type of diet the participants typically consumes. The final stage of data collection consisted of one-to-one semi-structured interviews with 26 participants regarding their dietary habits. High drop out rate from initial entrance surveys to point of interviewing Employing both interviews and dietary recalls provided triangulation of the data points increasing confidence in the findings.
- #8: Convenience sampling through personal recruitment. When I went to abroad to England I was limited in recruitment methods and was only allowed to recruit by going to classes and groups that were accessible to me. When I came back to US, in order to make the sample comparable I did the same thing. Under addressed population that is overstressed, young adult-hood is when people should be the healthiest. Need to see an institutional & social change. What is interesting is that the sample in the UK have reported the same problems as the sample in the US.
- #11: As indicated by the literature, we found the major finding was that there was significant inconsistency between the participants stated attitudes and their actual practice. We found that the disconnect between consumers nutritional knowledge and dietary behaviors does exist. Although, have not analyzed the quantitative data yet in order to confirm or disconfirm, it is trending to describe there is a general nutritional knowledge & awareness of the importance of a healthy diet. However, dietary behaviors are lacking behind.
- #13: My future research would involve addressing some of these sampling limitations, because the samples are not random, researchers cannot determine the sampling errors, or how much the sample might differ from the population. This could lead to problems with the results and incorrect conclusions from the data. Future research should look at other education levels Earlier I went into the a-priori assumptions from the literature. Originally I thought I’d find differences between the international population & US population but was most unexpected that they were remarkably similar. This could be unique to post-graduate students Or this could be a trend amongst westernized civilizations More research needs to be done to answer these questions