Summary Overweight and obesity in Sweden and in the rest of the industrialized world continues to increase. This results in increased costs both to society and the healthcare system. Part of this development is the increasing consumption of sugar and that is what should be restricted to tackle this growing social problem. Part of the increased consumption of sugar in Sweden was the launch of pick and mix ingrocery stores. This study aims to examine how store managers look at their public health responsibilities, and investigate how managers of grocery stores think about health and health aspects in general and about the sugar consumption in particular. Semi-structured "face to face" interviews was used to collect data and seven grocery store managers participated in the study. The interviews were analyzed using concentration of sentences that involves compiling the interviewees' statements into shorter formulations. Results of the study showed that all the store managers claimed to take the health responsibilities that can be expected of them. The health aspects taken into account by the store managers were that they provided good organic and locally produced groceries and that some of them had collaboration with a dietician or people with other professions related to food. It was considered easy to buy good and healthy food by all store managers. The question regarding the introduction of a sugar tax divided the store managers, 4 of them were positive to taxation, while 3 of them were more hesitant about its effects. The conclusion of this study is that store managers are taking some responsibility to the public health by providing healthy alternatives. However there is much more they can do to reduce sugar consumption among the population, thus contributing to an important public health work.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kau-32947 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Sott Kedestad, Andreas |
| Publisher | Karlstads universitet, Fakulteten för hälsa, natur- och teknikvetenskap (from 2013) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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