Marie Marquis

Strategies for influencing parental decisions on food purchasing

In 2002, Story et al. proposed an ecological model for understanding the individual and environmental factors that influence young consumers’ eating behaviors. The theoretical framework suggests that eating behavior is a function of four levels of influence: individual, interpersonal, environmental and societal. The objective of the study is to explore how these levels of influence may explain strategies used by ten‐year‐old children to influence parental decisions on food purchasing. A self‐administered questionnaire was filled out by children. Gender differences were observed in terms of eating environment, social motivations to select foods and use of specific persuasive strategies. The results obtained contribute to our knowledge on interpersonal influences on children’s consumer behavior and on individual differences in consumer socialization. Practical implications are presented and recommendations for future research are made.

Attitudes et habitudes de Canadiens relativement: à la planification des repas et à la cuisine maiso

PURPOSE To describe the attitudes and habits of Canadians in relation to planning and preparing meals at home, in order to identify motivations that can be used to promote home cooking. METHODS An electronic survey consisting of 39 multiple-choice questions was posted on the Dietitians of Canada website between November 16 and December 22, 2006. The statements analyzed have to do with perceived benefits associated with home cooking, obstacles preventing people from cooking, preparation time and meal planning, learning to cook, and sources of recipe ideas. RESULTS A total of 4,080 people filled out the questionnaire. Although they believe that home cooking can improve diet quality and eating behaviours, respondents experience several obstacles relating to day-to-day food preparation. Among these are lack of time, energy, ideas, and planning. CONCLUSIONS This study underlines the relevance of creating strategies not only for educating consumers about the benefits of home cooking, but also for providing practical information to help them overcome obstacles limiting the day-to-day preparation of food.

Factors influencing the adoption of a healthy eating campaign by federal cross-sector partners: a qualitative study

BackgroundThe Eat Well Campaign (EWC) was a social marketing campaign developed by Health Canada and disseminated to the public with the help of cross-sector partners. The purpose of this study was to describe factors that influenced cross-sector partners’ decision to adopt the EWC.MethodsThematic content analysis, based primarily on an a priori codebook of constructs from Roger’s diffusion of innovations decision process model, was conducted on hour-long semi-structured telephone interviews with Health Canada’s cross-sector partners (n = 18).ResultsDominant themes influencing cross-sector partners’ decision to adopt the EWC were: high compatibility with the organization’s values; being associated with Health Canada; and low perceived complexity of activities. Several adopters indicated that social norms (e.g., knowing that other organizations in their network were involved in the collaboration) played a strong role in their decision to participate, particularly for food retailers and small organizations. The opportunity itself to work in partnership with Health Canada and other organizations was seen as a prominent relative advantage by many organizations. Adopters were characterized as having high social participation and positive attitudes towards health, new ideas and Health Canada. The lack of exposure to the mass media channels used to diffuse the campaign and reserved attitudes towards Health Canada were prominent obstacles identified by a minority of health organizations, which challenged the decision to adopt the EWC. Most other barriers were considered as minor challenges and did not appear to impede the adoption process.ConclusionsUnderstanding factors that influence cross-sector adoption of nutrition initiatives can help decision makers target the most appropriate partners to advance public health objectives. Government health agencies are likely to find strong partners in organizations that share the same values as the initiative, have positive attitudes towards health, are extremely implicated in social causes and value the notion of partnership.

Exploring adolescents' awareness of diabetes using the free association technique.

Purpose: Healthy adolescents’ awareness of diabetes was explored, and gender and grade-level differences in understanding were determined. Methods: Adolescents without diabetes in grades five, eight, and 10 (n=128) at four New Brunswick schools wrote down all words/expressions that came to mind when they heard the word “diabetes” (i.e., they used the free association technique). Answers were classified into categories using content analysis. Results: Eighty-eight girls and 40 boys completed the activity (n=44, 52, and 32 in grades five, eight, and 10, respectively). Nine principal categories were identified: 66% of the adolescents cited sugar (e.g., eating too much sugar, not enough sugar), 48% treatment (e.g., needles, injections), 45% the nature of diabetes (e.g., a disease, types of diabetes, heredity), 41% nutrition (e.g., diet, sugar-containing foods, other foods), 38% blood (e.g., too much/not enough sugar in blood), 18% complications (e.g., death), 11% physiological manifestations/ symptoms (e.g., ...Purpose: Healthy adolescents’ awareness of diabetes was explored, and gender and grade-level differences in understanding were determined. Methods: Adolescents without diabetes in grades five, eight, and 10 (n=128) at four New Brunswick schools wrote down all words/expressions that came to mind when they heard the word “diabetes” (i.e., they used the free association technique). Answers were classified into categories using content analysis. Results: Eighty-eight girls and 40 boys completed the activity (n=44, 52, and 32 in grades five, eight, and 10, respectively). Nine principal categories were identified: 66% of the adolescents cited sugar (e.g., eating too much sugar, not enough sugar), 48% treatment (e.g., needles, injections), 45% the nature of diabetes (e.g., a disease, types of diabetes, heredity), 41% nutrition (e.g., diet, sugar-containing foods, other foods), 38% blood (e.g., too much/not enough sugar in blood), 18% complications (e.g., death), 11% physiological manifestations/ symptoms (e.g., ...

Potential of the internet to address topics of interest in nutrition

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the potential of the internet to address nutrition topics.Design/methodology/approach – From a survey posted on the Dietitians of Canada Website, 870 questionnaires were retained. Subjects indicated how frequently they used different sources to obtain information on healthy eating and what level of confidence they had in these sources. They also identified nutrition topics which were of the most interest to them.Findings – Internet was reported to be often used as a source of nutrition information by 40 per cent of respondents, from time to time by 47 per cent of respondents and rarely or never by 14 per cent of them. In terms of credibility, 34 per cent of respondents reported being very confident in internet as a source of nutrition information, 62 per cent being slightly confident and 4 per cent being not confident at all. Findings were obtained between nutrition topics, frequency of use of the Web as a source of information and the level of confidence ...

Facilitators and barriers experienced by federal cross-sector partners during the implementation of a healthy eating campaign

OBJECTIVE To identify facilitators and barriers that Health Canadas (HC) cross-sector partners experienced while implementing the Eat Well Campaign: Food Skills (EWC; 2013-2014) and describe how these experiences might differ according to distinct partner types. DESIGN A qualitative study using hour-long semi-structured telephone interviews conducted with HC partners that were transcribed verbatim. Facilitators and barriers were identified inductively and analysed according partner types. SETTING Implementation of a national mass-media health education campaign. SUBJECTS Twenty-one of HCs cross-sector partners (food retailers, media and health organizations) engaged in the EWC. RESULTS Facilitators and barriers were grouped into seven major themes: operational elements, intervention factors, resources, collaborator traits, developer traits, partnership factors and target population factors. Four of these themes had dual roles as both facilitators and barriers (intervention factors, resources, collaborator traits and developer traits). Sub-themes identified as both facilitators and barriers illustrate the extent to which a facilitator can easily become a barrier. Partnership factors were unique facilitators, while operational and target population factors were unique barriers. Time was a barrier that was common to almost all partners regardless of partnership type. There appeared to be a greater degree of uniformity among facilitators, whereas barriers were more diverse and unique to the realities of specific types of partner. CONCLUSIONS Collaborative planning will help public health organizations anticipate barriers unique to the realities of specific types of organizations. It will also prevent facilitators from becoming barriers. Advanced planning will help organizations manage time constraints and integrate activities, facilitating implementation.

Food motivation: content analysis of Châtelaine women's magazine

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the continuity and/or rupture in food motivations as revealed from documents issued from Châtelaine in 1960‐1961, 1970, 1980 and 1990.Design/methodology/approach – A historical content analysis was used to explore the food motivations in Châtelaine. A total of 51 issues were read and all documents referring to food and nutrition were photocopied except for advertisements. Variables associated with each document were grouped into four themes: health and diseases, food and nutrition, body and society. Descriptive statistics were conducted using SPSS (version 10.1, 1999).Findings – Overall, the content analysis has indicated that food and nutrition is the dominant motivation (n  =  430) followed by health and disease (n  =  292), society (n  =  71) and body concerns (n  =  70). Each decade was associated with major sub‐themes. In brief, 1960 was the year of food, family and tradition; 1970 was the transition year; 1980 was the year of knowledge, culpability a...

Habits, Motivations, and Barriers by Users and Non-Users of Quebec Public Markets

Users and non-users of Quebec public markets were asked questions about their habits and motivations for shopping at markets and the barriers that keep them from going. Eight discussion groups (n = 52) were held in Montreal and an online survey completed data collection in two other regions in the province (n = 923). Primary results are presented and then analyzed based on seven aspects: ambiance and social interactions, freshness, variety, price, managing quantity, buying local, and seasonality. Profile types of public market users and non-users are revealed. Concrete courses of action are identified to promote public markets and make them more convenient to use. Further research must be conducted to gain a better understanding of public markets, their potential, and those who use them.

Relations entre les pratiques alimentaires: maternelles et l’alimentation d’enfants québécois d’âge préscolaire

Objectif: L’objectif de cette etude est d’examiner les relations entre les pratiques alimentaires de la mere et l’alimentation de l’enfant d’âge prescolaire. Methodes: Cent vingt-deux meres ont ete recrutees par des milieux de garde de l’ile de Montreal et ont rempli un questionnaire autoadministre. Celui-ci portait sur l’impact des pratiques alimentaires des parents sur l’alimentation de leur enfant, notamment sur les frequences de consommation et les preferences alimentaires. Resultats: Des correlations ont ete observees entre les trois pratiques alimentaires maternelles, a savoir les restrictions, la pression a manger et les recompenses alimentaires, et le comportement alimentaire de l’enfant. En effet, ces trois pratiques ont ete correlees a des comportements alimentaires moins desirables chez l’enfant, comportements mesures par des variations de frequences de consommation et/ou de preferences alimentaires. Conclusions: Cette etude suggere que les pratiques alimentaires de la mere ont un effet direct ...

Développement d'une grille d'analyse: des menus en services de garde à la petite enfance

A review of the literature reveals that there are currently no tools available to analyze the quality of the menus provided in daycare centres. An analysis grid has been developed for this purpose, specifically targeting the food served to preschool children aged 18 months and over. The tool was produced on the basis of findings from recent scientific research. The final version of the grid features 25 statements that cover types of menus, the food groups and recommendations of Canadas Food Guide, sources of protein, the supply of beverages,processed foods, cariogenic products, nutritional variety,allergens and sensory properties of foods. The data gathered using this grid will help establish recommendations for daycare administrators and kitchen managers with respect to various considerations that are key to promoting healthy eating habits in early childhood. The limitations to its use stem from the need to complement these recommendations by conducting an analysis of the recipes and ingredients used, the beverages served and the portion sizes offered.