Fast-food Purchases Research Articles

Neighbourhood food environments: are they associated with adolescent dietary intake, food purchases and weight status?

To examine neighbourhood food environments, adolescent nutrition and weight status. Cross-sectional, observational study. Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan region, Minnesota, USA. A total of 349 adolescents were recruited to the study. Participants completed 24 h dietary recalls and had their weight and height measured. They also reported demographic information and other diet-related behaviours. Geographic Information Systems were used to examine the availability and proximity of food outlets, particularly those captured within the 800, 1600 and/or 3000 m network buffers around participants' homes and schools. Adjusting for gender, age and socio-economic status, adolescents' sugar-sweetened beverage intake was associated with residential proximity to restaurants (including fast food), convenience stores, grocery stores and other retail facilities within the 800 and/or 1600 m residential buffers (P ≤ 0·01). BMI Z-score and percentage body fat were positively associated with the presence of a convenience store within a 1600 m buffer. Other individual-level factors, such as energy, fruit and vegetable intake, as well as convenience store and fast food purchasing, were not significantly associated with features of the residential neighbourhood food environment in adjusted models. In addition, school neighbourhood environments yielded few associations with adolescent outcomes. Many factors are likely to have an important role in influencing adolescent dietary intake and weight status. Interventions aimed at increasing neighbourhood access to healthy foods, as well as other approaches, are needed.

Does weight status influence weight-related beliefs and the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and fast food purchases in adolescents?

OBJECTIVE: To determine if weight status affects the relationship between weight-related beliefs and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and fast and convenience store food purchases (FCFP). DESIGN: Observational, cross-sectional. SETTING: Twin Cities Metropolitan area, Minnesota, USA. METHODS: Body composition and psychosocial survey were obtained for 345 adolescents. General Linear Models tested adjusted (age and sex) associations between weight-related beliefs and consumption of SSB and FCFP. Significant associations were tested for moderation by weight status. RESULTS: SSB was positively related to perceptions that people worry too much about their weight (β = 0.103, p = 0.016), with no moderation present. FCFP were positively associated to perceived barriers to maintaining a healthy weight (β = 0.042, p = 0.004) with a subsequent significant interaction by weight status. Stratified models showed a significant association between perceived barriers to a healthy weight and FCFP for overweight adolescents (β = 0.345, p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: Addressing perceived barriers to a healthy diet may lead to important risk reduction.

Fast food purchasing and access to fast food restaurants: a multilevel analysis of VicLANES

BackgroundWhile previous research on fast food access and purchasing has not found evidence of an association, these studies have had methodological problems including aggregation error, lack of specificity between the exposures and outcomes, and lack of adjustment for potential confounding. In this paper we attempt to address these methodological problems using data from the Victorian Lifestyle and Neighbourhood Environments Study (VicLANES) – a cross-sectional multilevel study conducted within metropolitan Melbourne, Australia in 2003.MethodsThe VicLANES data used in this analysis included 2547 participants from 49 census collector districts in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. The outcome of interest was the total frequency of fast food purchased for consumption at home within the previous month (never, monthly and weekly) from five major fast food chains (Red Rooster, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hungry Jacks and Pizza Hut). Three measures of fast food access were created: density and variety, defined as the number of fast food restaurants and the number of different fast food chains within 3 kilometres of road network distance respectively, and proximity defined as the road network distance to the closest fast food restaurant.Multilevel multinomial models were used to estimate the associations between fast food restaurant access and purchasing with never purchased as the reference category. Models were adjusted for confounders including determinants of demand (attitudes and tastes that influence food purchasing decisions) as well as individual and area socio-economic characteristics.ResultsPurchasing fast food on a monthly basis was related to the variety of fast food restaurants (odds ratio 1.13; 95% confidence interval 1.02 – 1.25) after adjusting for individual and area characteristics. Density and proximity were not found to be significant predictors of fast food purchasing after adjustment for individual socio-economic predictors.ConclusionAlthough we found an independent association between fast food purchasing and access to a wider variety of fast food restaurant, density and proximity were not significant predictors. The methods used in our study are an advance on previous analyses.

Fast food for family meals: relationships with parent and adolescent food intake, home food availability and weight status

The purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence of fast-food purchases for family meals and the associations with sociodemographic variables, dietary intake, home food environment, and weight status in adolescents and their parents. This study is a cross-sectional evaluation of parent interviews and adolescent surveys from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens). Subjects included 902 middle-school and high-school adolescents (53% female, 47% male) and their parents (89% female, 11% male). The adolescent population was ethnically diverse: 29% white, 24% black, 21% Asian American, 14% Hispanic and 12% other. Results showed that parents who reported purchasing fast food for family meals at least 3 times per week were significantly more likely than parents who reported purchasing fewer fast-food family meals to report the availability of soda pop and chips in the home. Adolescents in homes with fewer than 3 fast-food family meals per week were significantly more likely than adolescents in homes with more fast-food family meals to report having vegetables and milk served with meals at home. Fast-food purchases for family meals were positively associated with the intake of fast foods and salty snack foods for both parents and adolescents; and weight status among parents. Fast-food purchases for family meals were negatively associated with parental vegetable intake. Fast-food purchases may be helpful for busy families, but families need to be educated on the effects of fast food for family meals and how to choose healthier, convenient family meals.

Developing Country Consumer Fast Food Preferences

The author explores consumer fast food preferences in Saudi Arabia, a developing country where U.S. fast food companies have been mushrooming since the early ′90s. Utilizing a sample of 250 fast food restaurant patrons, the study examines the attributes of fast food restaurants that are important to consumers, the pattern of fast food purchases, and the variations in fast food preferences and purchase behavior across different consumer demographics. The results indicate that the top five most important service attributes are cleanliness, taste, friendliness, speed, and variety. In this market, people most often eat fast food for dinner, followed in preference by lunch; breakfast is not popular as yet. With respect to the frequency of purchase, the amount spent per visit, the type of fast food restaurant preference, and the type of fast food menu preference, there exist differences across various consumer demographics.