<p>High-school-aged youths have limited food safety knowledge
and lack safe food-handling skills. However, these youths will prepare food for
themselves and are frequently employed in the food service industry, where
their food-handling practices can directly impact public health. Youths’
beliefs about safe food-handling behaviors are affected by Key Influencers in
their lives such as peers, classroom instructors, parents, and celebrities
including popular web-content authors or video hosts. Societal changes have
prompted the elimination of Family and Consumer Science courses from many
schools and the reduction of food-handler role models at home, while increasing
access to unregulated sources of food-handling information such as information
published on web-based platforms. These societal changes largely remove peers,
classroom instructors, and parents from influencing youths’ food-handling behaviors.
</p>
<p>The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the
effectiveness of a researcher-developed food safety educational intervention at
changing students’ food-handling behaviors specifically focusing on the role of
subjective norms in generating behavior change and (2) conduct an exploratory
content analysis of food safety messages delivered by blog authors and video
hosts of popular web-content. </p>
<p>The researcher-developed
curriculum was evaluated for adherence to academic standards and overall
usability in the classroom using the Delphi Technique by a panel of secondary
educators who were considered experts in the education field. The curriculum
was evaluated for effectiveness at changing high school students’ food-handling
behaviors through self-reported surveys and observation using GoPro head
mounted and stationary cameras. Finally, content analysis was performed on food
safety messages disseminated by authors and video hosts of popular blogs and
YouTube videos, respectively. </p>
Findings from the study demonstrated that youths’
food-handling behaviors are affected by Key Influencers including their peers
and classroom instructor. However, post-intervention, a role-reversal was
observed and reported as students became influencers who sought to improve
their Key Influencers’ food-handling behaviors. Differences in influencing
power within these relationships could impact the sustainability of youths’
safe food-handling behaviors. In particular, imbalances in influencing power of
celebrities in the absence of other Key Influencers could leave students
vulnerable to adopting unsafe food-handling practices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/12269498 |
| Date | 08 May 2020 |
| Creators | Tressie E Barrett (8796878) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/Subjective_norms_in_food_safety_An_evaluation_of_classroom_and_popular_web-based_Key_Influencers_impact_on_consumer_food_safety/12269498 |
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