Seals-of-approval have been employed as one of the information sources at the time of purchase. However, little is known about how seals’ sponsoring organizations affect consumers’ decision making and how consumers use seals in different food categories such as healthy-seeming vs. unhealthy-seeming products. Applying Consumers’ Decision Making Model and Signaling Theory to the above inquiry, I propose that people who are exposed to healthy-seeming food products are using seals-of-approval to evaluate brand quality and credible third-party seals may significantly affect their brand attitude and buying decision. In contrast, the seals-of-approval on unhealthy-seeming food products may not affect significantly consumers’ brand attitude or buying intention because consumers rely more on their previous experience such as taste when choosing unhealthy foods. After this theoretical proposition, next step will be an experimental survey to test suggested hypotheses. / text

Background: The foods people choose to eat can determine their health status because inadequate or excessive amounts of certain food components are associated with risk of disease. A number of factors influence the foods people choose and the amounts of these foods, such as social situations, habits, advertising and the cost of food (Delormier, et al., 2009). The aim of this study is to identify the perceptions and environmental factors that are associated with food choices and the extent of perceptions to adherence to dietary advice among women with type 2 diabetes. Objectives: 1) To describe food behaviours of women who have diabetes, within their own daily food patterns; 2) To describe the perceptions of women who have diabetes about their social, economic and environmental situations that influence their food choice;, and 3) To identify the perceptions that are associated with the intent or ability to adhere to recommended health and nutrition behaviours. Methodology: Semi-structural individual interviews were used to collect data from 20 women with type 2 diabetes. The Food Choice Map was used to generate the food patterns and food perceptions, Interviews were recorded and transcripts were analyzed by using principles of the Theory of Planned Behavior, constant comparison method to extract themes, and coded by Nvivo software. In addition, the women completed a demographic questionnaire. Results: Of the major factors that the women perceived as influencing their food behaviours, four major factors enabled women to follow nutritional advice, while three factors acted as barriers to following the advice. Groups of women were identified: those who wanted to follow advice and did, those who did not want to follow advice and did not, those who wanted to follow advice but could not, and those who wanted to follow advice but experienced psychological conflict in doing so. Conclusion: Results showed that food behaviours could be better understood through multi-dimensional factors. The four groups of women with diabetes according to perceived intent or ability to adhere to health and nutrition advice was possible in this study, but further studies are needed to justify the use of these groupings in interventions that enhance adherence to dietary advice in the context of type 2 diabetes. Background: The foods people choose to eat can determine their health status because inadequate or excessive amounts of certain food components are associated with risk of disease. A number of factors influence the foods people choose and the amounts of these foods, such as social situations, habits, advertising and the cost of food (Delormier, et al., 2009). The aim of this study is to identify the perceptions and environmental factors that are associated with food choices and the extent of perceptions to adherence to dietary advice among women with type 2 diabetes. Objectives: 1) To describe food behaviours of women who have diabetes, within their own daily food patterns; 2) To describe the perceptions of women who have diabetes about their social, economic and environmental situations that influence their food choice;, and 3) To identify the perceptions that are associated with the intent or ability to adhere to recommended health and nutrition behaviours. Methodology: Semi-structural individual interviews were used to collect data from 20 women with type 2 diabetes. The Food Choice Map was used to generate the food patterns and food perceptions, Interviews were recorded and transcripts were analyzed by using principles of the Theory of Planned Behavior, constant comparison method to extract themes, and coded by Nvivo software. In addition, the women completed a demographic questionnaire. Results: Of the major factors that the women perceived as influencing their food behaviours, four major factors enabled women to follow nutritional advice, while three factors acted as barriers to following the advice. Groups of women were identified: those who wanted to follow advice and did, those who did not want to follow advice and did not, those who wanted to follow advice but could not, and those who wanted to follow advice but experienced psychological conflict in doing so. Conclusion: Results showed that food behaviours could be better understood through multi-dimensional factors. The four groups of women with diabetes according to perceived intent or ability to adhere to health and nutrition advice was possible in this study, but further studies are needed to justify the use of these groupings in interventions that enhance adherence to dietary advice in the context of type 2 diabetes.

“Aplicación del Food Choice Questionnaire en jóvenes adolescentes y su relación con el sobrepeso y otras variables socio-demográficas”. El uso del instrumento Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) permite conocer y entender mejor los hábitos nutricionales de la gente y, con base fundamentada, proponer estrategias para promover una alimentación saludable y facilitar la adherencia a tratamientos nutricionales.

Yes / Given the large proportion of time spent at work, it is surprising that relatively little research has been devoted to understanding food selection in the work place. A growing literature suggests that stress, particularly occupation-related stress, negatively impacts upon food choice and may contribute to population ill health. The consensus is that work stress induces consumption of foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt which are likely to contribute to overweight and have long-term detriment to health. The interaction between stress and eating appears to vary by sex and type of work undertaken. This paper argues an imperative for further longitudinal and intervention research to understand interactions between food choice and stress in the work context with a view to the design of dietary health promotion and the development of nourishing food products targeted at those experiencing stress and which could be made accessible in the work place.

No description available.

The aim of this research is to develop an understanding of why people become vegetarian and why the diet is currently enjoying a steady increase in popularity in contemporary Britain, through addressing the 'hidden agenda' of vegetarianism. Vegetarianism offers an example of food choice which highlights the non-nutritional aspects of food and eating, and represents far more than a pragmatic aversion to eating meat. The research incorporates both qualitative and quantitative studies. Two data sets were collected from 137 vegetarians in Greater London; qualitative information about the values and attitudes of vegetarians regarding diet, health and related issues, and quantitative information regarding the dietary intake of different categories of vegetarian. The findings of both studies are presented, but the thesis focuses on the qualitative data which was analysed using a symbolic approach to the study of food and eating as developed within anthropology. It was found that the decision to become vegetarian, and attitudes regarding food and health, formed a complex package of ideas which ranged from concrete issues, such as concern about the quality of the food supply, to ethical and abstract concerns, such as the character of the relationships between human society, nature and the animal world. There were differences between types of vegetarian in both diet and attitudes; as the diet became more extreme (excluding more animal foods) so attitudes became progressively more heterodox. It is concluded that vegetarianism does not deserve the label of 'fad' or 'cult' diet, but that it articulates a complex and potentially subversive ideology and demonstrates the need to incorporate social and cultural factors into analyses of food choice.

The importance of the consumption of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, for overall health, has been highlighted by the UK government in recent years. Consumption of fruit and vegetables is considerably lower in Scotland than in other parts of the UK. Behavioural change is most likely to come about through a comprehensive understanding of the range of factors influencing fruit and vegetable consumption, and the nature of the interaction of these factors. With variations in fruit and vegetable consumption by place and social class, this study focused on an area of low fruit and vegetable consumption in Scotland, and compared this to an area of high fruit and vegetable consumption in England, with socio-economic profile matched. The determinants of consumption, and their interrelationship, were investigated using qualitative information from focus group discussions, and quantitative data from a structured questionnaire. Multivariate models of fruit and vegetables consumption were developed, using log linear analysis, logistic regression and discriminant analysis. The models developed identified significant differences between fruit and vegetable consumption behaviour. Fruit consumption was mainly influenced by sociodemographic variables,in particulars mokers tatus. The impact of place and social class was substantial, when these variables were considered in interaction with the other socio-demographic variables. In contrast, vegetable consumption was influenced by motivational and attitudinal factors. Of these, the extent to which vegetables satisfied `convenience' expectations, and `hedonic motivations' were the most important influences, critical to vegetable consumption. The findings also suggest that the development of a generic model of food choice may not be an achievable goal, since the models of these two (similar) foodstuffs are so different. Strategies to promote fruit and vegetable consumption, must address the different characteristics, and priorities, of low fruit and vegetable consumers.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Hikaru H. Peterson / The prevalence of obesity and overweight has heightened over the last 40 years. Over two thirds of the US adult population is overweight or obese. Further, 18% of adolescents, ages 12 to 19, are obese, which is an increase of over 13% since the late 1970’s. Food environment and peer influence have been emerging areas of study and are thought to be catalysts to unhealthy eating choices. College students present a unique opportunity to look at the impact of a changing food environment, including changes in peer groups. This study is concerned with how students’ peers impact their food consumption and ultimately weight. College freshmen were recruited during their first month on campus at Kansas State University. The students participated in a year-long, three-part study to track their eating habits, weight and height. The students’ parents were also asked to participate by filling out a survey on eating habits. The students also asked one friend they ate with at least once a week to fill out a food record with them. The collected information was transformed into daily average calories for each of six food groups and for macronutrients. A peer ratio was created from the parents and friends calorie intakes to determine the similarity in consumption by each food group or macronutrient. A system of equations was specified and estimated for both food groups and macronutrients. For the food group model, beverages were the only food group with a statistically significant peer ratio term. The coefficient on the ratio was positive, indicating that students would consume more calories from beverages, as their college friends consumed more calories from beverages relative to the students’ parents at home. In the macronutrient model, protein had a statistically significant and positive peer ratio. An examination of the impacts of predicted calories consumed from food groups, along with other individual characteristics, on student’s BMI in the spring term, indicated that increasing snack consumption led to an increase in BMI while increasing bread consumption caused a decrease. Eating more meals at the university dining center also increased BMI. An analysis for the predicted macronutrient values revealed a similar relationship with eating more meals at the dining center, but the predicted macronutrients did not have statistically significant impacts on BMI.

A preocupação crescente com o desenvolvimento de hábitos saudáveis e uma alimentação adequada vêm promovendo o avanço nas ciências dos alimentos, como também nas relações entre estes e o homem. Nas últimas décadas, a qualidade da análise sensorial tem sido estudada não apenas com base na interação entre o homem e o alimento, mas através da compreensão dos fatores subjetivos e emocionais que influenciam os consumidores. O interesse pelos aspectos emocionais que influenciam essas escolhas amplia os estudos para o terreno das ciências psicológicas, que procuram entender as bases neurocognitivas e analíticas do funcionamento cerebral como motivadores desses processos no homem. O trabalho em neurociência cognitiva tem vislumbrado novos paradigmas, com o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas de observação do cérebro, visando conhecer sua estrutura e função, além de permitir a associação de um comportamento clinico ou experimentalmente observado, não só a um correlato mental presumido, mas também a marcadores específicos da atividade mental observada. Neste sentido, a atividade elétrica cerebral adquirida usando-se o eletroencefalograma (EEG) vem sendo, recentemente, muito usada para monitoramento de eventos cerebrais. Portanto, este trabalho tem como objetivo propor um modelo de análise sensorial que permita avaliar quantitativamente a ação do estímulo gustativo no contexto cognitivo, utilizando o EEG. O experimento foi realizado no laboratório de Física Aplica e Computacional (LAFAC), na Universidade Estadual de São Paulo (USP), Campus Pirassununga, no período de maio/2011 a maio/2012, com 23 voluntários (13 do sexo feminino e 10 do sexo masculino), com idade entre 19 e 24 anos. Foram coletados os sinais de EEG destes voluntários no momento em que experimentavam 27 amostras do sabor doce, sendo nove delas a 0% (água), nove com 0,15% de sacarose (limiar) e nove com 5,0% (concentração máxima). Desta amostragem, foi selecionado um grupo de 7 voluntários (5 do sexo feminino e 2 do sexo masculino) para análise dos dados. Neste estudo constatou-se que quatro voluntários do sexo feminino e um do sexo masculino foram capazes de identificar, através de dados obtidos com o EEG, as diferentes dosagens de sacarose. Os resultados permitem concluir que o modelo de análise sensorial proposta, com a utilização de EEG, para avaliar os estímulos gustativos no contexto cognitivo foi satisfatória e permitiu com a utilização de processamento de sinais digitais e AGR (Análise Adaptativa de Gabor) quantificar com eficiência a percepção dos voluntários as diferentes dosagens apresentadas no experimento. Sugere-se que as diferentes percepções dos voluntários no geral, encontradas no EEG, representam as suas singularidades quanto aos significados atribuídos ao sabor e suas correlações. / The growing concern with the development of healthy habits and a balanced diet allows the progress in Food Science as well as in the relationship between human beings and food. In the last decades the quality of the sensorial analysis has been studied not based only on the interaction between human beings and food but also through the comprehension of subjective and emotional factors that influence customers. The interest in emotional aspects which influence such choices extends the studies to the field of Psychological Science that attempts to understand neurocognitive and analytical bases of brain functioning as motivating elements of those human processes. The work in Cognitive Neuroscience has glimpsed new paradigms due to the development of new techniques about brain observation with the purpose of getting to know its structure and function other than allowing the association of behavior observed experimentally or clinical behavior not considering only a presumed mental correlative but also specific markers of mental activity observed in advance. In that aspect the brain electrical activity acquired through electroencephalogram has been recently used to monitor brain events. Therefore, the aim of this work is to propose a sensorial analysis pattern which allows to evaluate quantitatively the action of taste stimuli within a cognitive context using electroencephalogram. The experiment was carried out in the Laboratory of Applied and Computational Physics (LAFAC) in the University of the State of São Paulo (USP), Pirassununga Campus, from May 2011 to May 2012 with 23 volunteers (13 women and 10 men) aging between 19 and 21 years old. The volunteers\' electroencephalogram signals were collected when they tasted 27 sweet flavored samples, being 9 of them with 0% of sucrose (water), 9 with 0.15% of sucrose (threshold), and 9 with 5% of sucrose (maximum concentration). Seven volunteers were selected from this experiment (5 women and 2 men) whose data was analyzed. In this study was found that four women and one man were able to identify, through the EEG data obtained with the different concentrations of sucrose. The results obtained allowed to conclude that the proposed sensorial analysis pattern using electroencephalogram to evaluate taste stimuli within the cognitive context was satisfactory and allowed, along with the use of digital signals processing and Gabor Adaptive Analysis (AGR), to analyze and to quantify efficiently the volunteers\' perception of different doses presented in the experiment. It is suggested that the different perceptions of volunteers in general, encountered in EEG, representing singularities as to the meanings attributed to taste and their correlations.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Stephanie Lo, for the Masters of Science degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy, presented on May 11, 2017, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: INCREASING HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES AMONG INDIVIDUALS AT A RESIDENTIAL FACILITY. MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Ryan N. Redner Obesity and being overweight are rising issues in the United States and present unique challenges for individuals with disabilities. Even though individuals with disabilities are one of the most at risk groups for overweight and obesity, research with this population is lacking. The present study sought to build on behavior analytic research targeting weight loss in individuals with disabilities. The study examined the effect of goal setting plus feedback on eating behavior, specifically caloric intake, in two adult females with comorbid psychiatric and developmental disabilities. Results were variable, with only one participant completing all phases in the study. However, the intervention (goal plus feedback) was effective in decreasing caloric intake for both participants. This study adds to the limited research currently published on weight loss interventions with individuals with disabilities. Additionally, implications for future behavior analytic interventions on eating behaviors were discussed. Keywords: disabilities, overweight, obesity, food choice, goal setting, feedback