Behavioral and normative beliefs that influence Mexican consumers to purchase packaged food in urban supermarkets / Influencia de creencias conductuales y normativas en consumidores mexicanos para la compra de comida empaquetada en supermercados urbanos

Abstract: Objective: To identify the behavioral and normative believes factors that might have major influence on the decision to buy packaged foods in urban Mexican families. Materials and methods: We performed a cross-sectional study in four urban cities of Mexico. Participants responded a self-administered questionnaire (n=3 340) outside of randomly selected supermarkets. A factor analysis was performed to identify what were the main behavioral and normative believes explaining consumers' decision when buying packaged foods. Results: Three factors explained the behavioral beliefs: the quality assessment of packaged foods explained 61% of the variance, products that maintain weight explained 25%, and the emotional experience with foods explained 13%. Three factors explained the normative beliefs: expectations of children and partner explained 46% of the variance, expectations from the participants' closest friends 23%, and expectation from other family members explained 14%. Conclusion: Behavioral and normative beliefs related to assessing the quality of foods and meeting family expectations respectively are the main beliefs factors affecting consumers' packaged food purchase decisions in urban consumers.

Resumen: Objetivo: Identificar las creencias de comportamiento y normativas que tienen mayor influencia en las decisiones de familias urbanas en México para comprar alimentos empaquetados. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio transversal en cuatro ciudades urbanas de México. Los participantes respondieron un cuestionario auto-administrado (n=3 340) a la salida de los supermercados que fueron seleccionados aleatoriamente. Se realizó un análisis factorial para identificar los principales factores de las creencias de comportamiento y normativas que explican la decisión de comprar alimentos empaquetados. Resultados: Tres factores explicaron las creencias conductuales: la evaluación de la calidad de los alimentos empaquetados explicó el 61% de la varianza, productos para control de peso explicaron el 25% y la experiencia emocional con los alimentos el 13%. Tres factores explicaron las creencias normativas: las expectativas de la pareja e hijos explicaron el 46% de la varianza, las expectativas de amigos cercanos el 23% y las expectativas de otros familiares explicaron el 14%. Conclusión: En las creencias conductuales, la evaluación de la calidad de los alimentos y en las creencias normativas, la expectativa de la pareja y los hijos tienen gran influencia en la decisión de compra de alimentos empaquetados en los consumidores de los supermercados urbanos en México.

Relationship between job stress, health functional food selection attributes, and consumption values among workers for information technology in Gyeonggi area / 한국영양학회지

PURPOSE: This study examined the relationship between job stress, attributes of health functional food (HFF) selection, and consumption values for information technology (IT) workers, and analyzed the factors influencing the selection of HFF to improve health by making the right choice of HFFs.METHODS: Three hundred forty IT workers in Gyeonggi area participated in the study. The participants were divided into low or high job stress group. The differences in participants' general characteristics, attributes of HFF selection, and HFF consumption values were investigated, and the mediating effects of HFF consumption values on the relationship between job stress levels and the HFF selection attributes were analyzed.RESULTS: Job stress levels were high in those IT workers with a length of service < 5 years (p = 0.013). The group with lower job stress levels had a higher tendency to consider the ingredients contained in HFF products (p < 0.001), and their efficacy (p = 0.047). They also showed greater emotional value for a sense of security from consuming HFFs to stay healthy (p = 0.047). The group with higher job stress levels had greater epistemic value in that their choice of HFFs differentiated them from the other workers (p = 0.036). Higher job stress was associated with less consideration of the intrinsic attributes such as ingredients and efficacy of the HFF selection attributes (p = −0.113), emotional value of the HFF consumption values (p = −0.136), and the functional value such as practicality, price, and safety (p = −0.134). The job stress level influenced the intrinsic attributes through the functional and emotional values, demonstrating that the functional and emotional values had appropriate mediating effects on the relationship between job stress levels and intrinsic attributes.CONCLUSION: Education needs to be provided for workers to relieve job stress and improve the functional and emotional values, which contributes to choosing the appropriate HFFs.

Gender Analysis of Food Items Selection for Food Frequency Questionnaire Development

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were 1) to compare foods between men and women with high contributions to absolute intake and the variability in energy and nutrient intakes, which are common criteria of selecting foods for food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), 2) to analyze possible inaccuracies due to not taking gender into consideration. METHODS: The study used 1-day 24 hour recall data of 7,952 participants (n=3,250 men, n=4,702 women) aged 19–64 years who participated in the 2013–2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Foods which have high possibility of being included in FFQ items, called candidate foods, were selected by analyzing their contribution to absolute intake and variability in the intakes of energy and 15 nutrients in total participants, men and women. RESULTS: The number of candidate foods selected was 133 for total participants, 126 for men, and 153 for women. Intakes of candidate foods for total participants were significantly higher in energy and six nutrients out of selected 16 nutrients than those of candidate foods for men only. On the contrary, all nutrient intakes of candidate foods for total participants were significantly lower than those of candidate foods for women only. CONCLUSIONS: Differences were revealed between men and women not only in the total numbers, but also in the selected food items from the candidate foods for FFQ. Thus, developing FFQs without considering gender may produce systematic errors in dietary assessment, possibly in different directions for men and women.

Aspectos contextuais e pessoais influenciadores do consumo de chocolate / Personal and contextual aspects that influence chocolate consumption

O presente trabalho buscou conhecer e analisar fatores que influenciam o consumo de chocolate de um conjunto de pessoas e as modalidades de explicação ou justificação que apresentam para o seu padrão de consumo e para o tipo de interesse que têm pelo chocolate. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário. Participaram 313 homens e mulheres, a maioria (63,3%) com idade entre 16 e 25 anos. Houve interesse especial na discussão das diferenças encontradas quando os padrões de consumo de homens e mulheres são comparados. Ficou evidente, no grupo de participantes, que a influência de muitos dos aspectos considerados sobre o consumo do chocolate não se processa de forma idêntica sobre homens e mulheres. A representação de chocolate que os participantes revelaram, ao realizarem uma tarefa de evocação, mostra expressiva similaridade, com poucos aspectos divergentes. Os dados mostram que, no caso das mulheres, a seleção de alimentos é mais influenciada por fatores culturais ou factuais relacionados às variações de estados afetivos, o que pode contribuir para a discussão do comportamento alimentar em suas várias facetas.

This paper aimed to discover and analyze the factors that may influence the consumption of chocolate among a group of people and the way these people justify or explain their consumption pattern and interest for this product. A survey was carried out with a group of 313 men and women, most of those (63.3%) aged 15 to 25. There was special interest in the discussion of differences found when the consumption pattern of men and women are compared. It became clear, in the group analyzed, that many aspects of chocolate consumption are not processed in the same way by individuals of different genders. The representation of chocolate revealed by participants, after performing an evocation task, shows impressive similarity, with few divergent aspects. The data demonstrates that, especially for women, food selection is more influenced by cultural and factual factors related to changes in mood states, which may contribute to the discussion of eating behavior in its various facets.

An Australian Evaluation of the Tick Program Awareness among University Students

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in Australia. The Tick Program by the National Heart Foundation was designed to assist consumers in making healthier food choices. The aim of our study was to evaluate the awareness of university students regarding the Tick Program as a sustainable approach in preventing the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in youth. Following Ethics Committee approval, a cross-sectional study was undertaken in 2006 to measure university students’ level of awareness of the Tick Program using a self-administered survey form. Inclusion criteria were full-time university students who have lived in Australia for a minimum duration of twelve months and do their own shopping. Students of less than 18 years of age were excluded from the study. Of 110 university students surveyed, 97 questionnaires were successfully completed (response rate: 88%). Overall there was a high level of awareness (72.2%) of the Tick program, which was also considered trustworthy by a majority of participants, with a mean rating of 3.87 (on a scale of 1 to 5). Tick-approved products were also considered a healthier choice by participants (mean 4.06 out of 5). Participants were also asked to identify potential barriers limiting the use of the Tick in making purchase decisions. The most important barrier identified to the Tick program was the limited range of Tick-approved products. A significant proportion of respondents also believed there was limited publicity of the program. The Tick Program is considered to be trustworthy and the approved products were regarded as healthy, with the results showing that participants have confidence in the Tick Program. This research also highlighted the potential areas for improvement of the Tick Program.

Feeding habits of coypu (Myocastor coypus Molina 1978) in the wetlands of the Southern region of Brazil

The aim of this study was to determine the diet of coypu (Myocastor coypus) in two areas (Santa Isabel do Sul wetlands - Area 1, and Santa Marta Farm - Area 2) in the Southern region of Brazil, using microhistological analyses of feces. Twenty-four plant species were identified from collected feces samples. Among the identified species, nine are common in the animals' diet in both areas; the presence of Oriza sativa was not detected in any of the samples. Among the identified species, 84 percent and 54 percent of the coypu's diet from Areas 1 and 2, respectively, are aquatic plants. Poaceae family was most common, being found in 82 percent of the samples from both areas. Paspalum disthichum (Area 1) and Panicum tricholaenoides (Area 2) were the most frequent species on the coypu's diet. The diet comparison for both areas indicates that feeding habits vary depending on the type of habitat, environmental conditions and food availability. The absence of rice in our analysis may be an indication for the preservation of native areas around watercourses, so as to prevent coypu from invading irrigated crops.

O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a dieta do ratão-do-banhado (Myocastor coypus), em duas regiões (áreas alagadas em Santa Isabel do Sul - Área 1 e Fazenda Santa Marta - Área 2), na região sul do Brasil, utilizando microhistological análises de fezes. Foram identificadas 24 espécies de plantas nas amostras de fezes coletadas. Entre as espécies identificadas, nove são comuns a dieta dos animais de ambas as áreas, não sendo detectada a presença de Oriza sativa em nenhuma das amostras. Entre as espécies identificadas, 84 por cento e54 por cento da dieta do ratão-do-banhado, nas Áreas 1 e 2 respectivamente, são plantas aquáticas. A família Poaceae foi a mais abundante, sendo encontrada em 82 por cento das amostras de ambasas áreas. Paspalum disthichum (Área 1) e Panicum tricholaenoides (Área 2), foram as espécies mais frequentes na dieta do ratão-do-banhado. A comparação da dieta de ambas as áreas mostrou que a alimentação varia dependendo do tipo de habitat, condições ambientais e de disponibilidade alimentar. A ausência de arroz na nossa análise pode ser um indicativo de que a preservação de áreas nativas ao redor de cursos d'água, evita que o ratão-do-banhado utilize as culturas de arroz.