Abstract
Sustainable and healthy food-related behavior is high on the public policy and research agenda due to its potential to cope with negative environmental and health outcomes. There are several measures related to sustainability in food choices but there have not been many attempts to integrate sustainable and healthy eating (SHE) behaviors into one measurement instrument so far. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to identify how young adults interpret the SHE concept and to develop an instrument that measures a self-reported consumer’s SHE behavior. The process of scale development involved an exploratory qualitative study and two quantitative studies. As a result of 20 individual in depth interviews with Polish young adults, 50 items were generated reflecting their perspective on principles of SHE (Study 1). Two samples were used in the scale validation process: n = 217 (Study 2) and n = 220 (Study 3). Via principal component analysis, reliability analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis, the final form of the scale was derived. The proposed 34-item scale offers insights into the most relevant aspects of SHE behaviors, grouped in eight factors: “healthy and balanced diet”, “certification and quality labels”, “meat reduction”, “selection of local food”, “choice of low fat food products”, “avoidance of food waste” and purchase and consumption of food products that are respecting “animal welfare” and finally choice of “seasonal food”. Although the developed scale can benefit from further refinement and validity testing in different cultural and social background, it is clear that the scale, as developed, can be a useful tool for researchers who are interested in the study of SHE behaviors.
Highlights
Food consumption is one of the most important drivers of environmental pressures, and the adoption of healthy diets is suggested to be an option for less environmentally intensive food habits and improved public health [1,2]
Further exploration of the sustainability in relation to food led to defining the term “sustainable healthy eating” that has been associated with a balanced and varied diet, adherence to dietary recommendations, and, in general, taking care of one’s health, including physical activity
Factor 1 consists of 10 statements related to the choice of food that is healthy, nutritious, natural, and in general indicating a balanced diet and is labeled as a “healthy and balanced diet”, while Factor 2 contains five items related to aspects such as regional certificate, organic food, and quality marks on labels
Summary
Food consumption is one of the most important drivers of environmental pressures, and the adoption of healthy diets is suggested to be an option for less environmentally intensive food habits and improved public health [1,2]. With increasing recognition of the environmental impact of food and drink, food policy, dietary recommendations, and research on consumer behavior need to go beyond the traditional focus on healthy eating and include wider issues of social, environmental, and economic sustainability [3,4]. More attention has been paid to incorporating the idea of sustainability with the promotion of healthy eating, but very few policy recommendations exist [7,8]. The sustainability aspect has already become an integral consideration in the current dietary recommendations. In 2014, the FAO/WHO 2nd International Conference on Nutrition devoted 9 of its 60 recommendations to actions for sustainable food systems promoting healthy diets. Some EU countries (e.g., Sweden, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) made attempts to incorporate sustainable and healthy eating (SHE) principles into dietary guidelines. The proposals were not adopted more broadly due to the EU members’ fears of erecting trade barriers related to favoring locally produced food or products complying with additional standards like fair trade [3,9]
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