Household Food Research Articles

Municipal solid waste composition and food loss reduction in Kyoto City

For 35 years, Kyoto City has conducted detailed household waste composition surveys under the guidance of Kyoto University by dividing household waste into approximately 400 categories. In addition, the city has conducted detailed composition surveys of commercial waste generated by businesses. These surveys show that food loss accounts for approximately 40% of total waste, of which leftovers and untouched food account for about 40% in both households and business facilities. Consequently, the annual generation of household and commercial food loss is estimated at about 30,000 tons. Various efforts have been made to reduce waste, including food loss, but further reduction in environmental burden is needed. Thus, Kyoto City revised the ordinance for waste reduction, and in March 2015, formulated a new municipal waste management plan. The plan not only includes the 2Rs (reduce, reuse), but also, for the first time in Japan, sets quantitative targets for reducing food loss. Kyoto City must ensure that the necessary waste reduction measures are clearly explained to the residents and business operators. To ensure that this plan is successful, it is important to clarify concrete actions that residents and business operators should implement, along with their effects.

Educational Attainment, and the Joint Outcomes of Employment and Consumption in Burkina Faso: A Semi-Parametric Bivariate Modeling Approach

With UN member states formally adopting the Education 2030 Agenda through the Incheon Declaration, comes the need to evaluate the effect of education on the joint outcomes of employment and consumption for each member state, so as to get a clear picture of its value as an effective policy leverage for sustainable development in the country. To this end, this paper looks at the effects of educational attainment on the two key aspects of consumer behavior (labor force participation, and consumption spending) in Burkina Faso, using a Semi-parametric Bivariate modeling approach, and data from the National Survey on Household Living Conditions. The results show that not only is the semi-parametric modeling approach methodologically innovative because it deals with the simultaneity of labor force participation and consumption spending using conventional systems of two equations, with non-linear covariates' effects using spline approach, and non-normal bivariate distribution using copula functions; it also performs better than the classic Heckman two-step estimator based on the AIC and BIC criterion. Most importantly, it is found that a typical head of household's education level plays a positive and significant role in his/her likely participation in the labor market, and also Simultaneously contributes to higher household's per-capita food consumption and non-food consumption spending in burkina faso. Moreover, the positive and significant correlation coefficients between labor force participation and consumption spending on food and non-food items, suggest that the assumption of joint occurrence of the two processes is important. This assumption leads to a more accurate account of the effects of education and that of the other covariates in the system. Overall, the results do support the importance of education as an effective policy leverage for fighting against food insecurity and poverty in burkina faso, although care must be taken to reduce the disparities between rural and urban areas.

Risky resources: Household production, food contamination, and perceptions of aflatoxin exposure among Zambian female farmers

Mycotoxins pose a risk to nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa, yet research on mycotoxin control pays limited attention to the social context of fungal toxin exposure. In Zambia, groundnuts are considered a “woman's crop,” making women's labor central to groundnut production. However, this status does not ensure women control over the groundnut production process—an important distinction when looking at distribution of labor and resources in the household and its implication for aflatoxin reduction. This article uses semistructured interviews and participatory risk assessment techniques with women farmers to examine the relationship between control over groundnut production, risk perception, and aflatoxin mitigation in Eastern Province, Zambia. Interviews were conducted in July–August 2015 in three districts of Eastern Province and focused on knowledge and perceptions of aflatoxin-producing fungi and food contamination and groundnut production practices. Results from this study indicate that gender disaggregated data on ownership and control over production strategies are important for understanding the mechanisms that create variation in household exposure to aflatoxins. Local perceptions of short- and long-term health influence the relationship between knowledge about aflatoxins and practice. Including the social context of decision making into aflatoxin risk assessment and mitigation helps strengthen intervention efforts.

Adoption of Improved Potato Varieties in Nepal

Nepal is one of the top twenty countries where potato contributes substantially for the human diet. Enhancing adoption of improved potato varieties could impact on farmer’s income, household food and nutritional security. As such, using a multistage sampling procedure, a study was conducted to assess the determinants of improved potato varieties adoption in Nepal covering 180 samples in four districts, two in hills and two in Tarai region. The study revealed that; Kavre and Bardiya districts in the hills and Tarai, respectively, were dominated by improved potato varieties adoption. On the other hand, Dhankuta and Jhapa in the hills and Tarai, respectively, were dominated by local potato varieties adoption. The informal seed sources followed by agro-vet and market were the major sources for improved varietal adoption. Farmers’ accesses to training and formal seed sources were important factor determining improved potato varietal adoption. However, households with larger farm size were less likely to allocate more area for improved potato varieties as many of farmers were reluctant to take potato cultivation as agri-business and still follow subsistence farming. Potato R&D programs, therefore, need to strengthen formal seed system to enhance access to quality potato seeds and build producer’s capacity through regular training and exposer visits in order to improve adoption of improved potato varieties in Nepal.Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council Vol.3 2017: 38-44

Household Food and Beverages Purchases by Retailer Type in Mexico and Socio‐economic Disparities

BackgroundEvidence in the US has shown that where people shop for food is linked to the healthfulness of household food purchases. In Mexico however, there has been no research examining the link between the retailers where people shop and what they buy, nor whether this differs by socioeconomic status (SES). Moreover, while the sugary beverage and junk food taxes have decreased purchases of taxed products, it is unknown whether these taxes also shifted where people shop.ObjectiveTo describe the proportion of the total volume and of key taxed and untaxed packaged foods and beverages purchases in Mexico by type of retailer and SES.MethodsThis study used a repeated cross‐sectional analysis of household packaged food and beverage purchases from the Nielsen Mexico Consumer Panel Survey from 2012 to 2015 (N=22,738 household‐year). Changes over time in the volume of food and beverage purchases by retailer type (i.e. supermarkets, traditional retailers, wholesalers, home‐delivery and others) and SES were examined with T‐tests.ResultsOverall, from 2012 to 2015, total food purchases in supermarkets increased from 49% to 52% but decreased from 39% to 37% in traditional retailers (i.e. street markets, peddlers and independent convenience stores). For the same time period, total beverage purchases remained at a constant 8% in supermarkets, decreased from 32% to 31 % in traditional retailers and increased from 42% to 44% via home‐delivery. However, SES results varied greatly. From 2012–2015, the low SES purchases of taxed and untaxed foods in supermarkets increased from 27% to 39% and from 35% to 42%, respectively, and decreased from 66% to 57% and from 56% to 51% in traditional retailers. Although total beverage purchases by the low SES in traditional retailers decreased from 37% to 34% across the study period, 90% of taxed beverages were consistently purchased at traditional retailers across time. During same time period, high SES purchases of taxed foods in supermarkets decreased from 62% to 61%, increased in traditional retailers from 19% to 21%, and increased in wholesalers from 12% to 14%, while untaxed foods purchases increased in supermarkets from 61% to 62% and in traditional retailers from 21% to 23%. In the high SES, taxed beverage purchases decreased in supermarkets from 30% to 25% but increased in traditional retailers from 60% to 68%; while untaxed beverage purchases increased in supermarkets from 10% to 12%, by home‐delivery from 50% to 52% and decreased in traditional retailers from 18% to 16%.ConclusionsAlthough traditional retailing still plays an important role in food and beverage purchasing in Mexico, the low and middle SES are shifting their purchasing patterns towards the supermarkets. Conversely, the high SES showed slight increases in food but not beverages purchases in traditional retailers. Overall, taxed foods are predominantly purchased in supermarkets while taxed beverages are mainly bought at traditional retailers.Support or Funding InformationThis support comes primarily from the Bloomberg Philanthropies (grants to UNC and CINyS INSP), with support from the NIH R01DK108148, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant 71698), and the Carolina Population Center and its NIH Center grant (P2C HD0550924).

Nutritional Profile of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Household Food and Beverage Purchases

BackgroundThe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition assistance program in the United States, and, accordingly, there is considerable interest in participants' diets. To date, research on SNAP households' dietary behaviors has largely relied on survey‐based dietary assessment methods such as 24‐hour recalls. Electronic household purchase data can provide an important complement to survey‐based measures of SNAP participants' dietary behaviors, as these datasets capture precisely the purchases subsidized by SNAP benefits: i.e., store purchases of foods and beverages for consumption at home. Additionally, a number of jurisdictions have proposed changes to the SNAP benefits package, including ending subsidies for certain items (e.g., sugar‐sweetened beverages [SSBs], junk foods). The scope for these policies to meaningfully change overall dietary quality is bounded by baseline purchases of the targeted products; however, little is known about purchases of policy‐relevant items.ObjectiveThis study aims to describe SNAP households' purchases of key health‐ and policy‐relevant food, beverage, and nutrient outcomes, and to compare these behaviors to those of non‐SNAP households.MethodsData are from a unique dataset of U.S. households' (n = 70,447) packaged food and beverage purchases and SNAP status (current participant, income‐eligible nonparticipant (income ≤130% Federal Poverty Level [FPL]), and higher‐income nonparticipant (>130% FPL)) over three quarters in 2012–2013. We estimated pooled ordinary least squares models, clustered at the household‐level and controlling for sociodemographics, to examine the association between SNAP status and household purchases of 22 nutritional outcomes (e.g., fruits, vegetables, processed meats, SSBs, fiber, calories).ResultsWithin all categories of SNAP status, average household purchases did not meet dietary guidelines for fruits, vegetables, saturated fat, fiber, or sodium. Adjusting for multiple comparisons, we found significant differences by SNAP status in purchases of fruits, salty snacks, processed meat, sweeteners and toppings, SSBs, and total calories, fiber, sugar, and sodium, with all but one comparison (salty snacks) favoring nonparticipant households in terms of healthfulness. Several differences were clinically meaningful: for example, compared to both groups of nonparticipants, SNAP participants purchased approximately 15–20 kcal/person/day more calories from SSBs (p's < 0.0001), approximately 60 kcal/person/day more total calories (p's < 0.0002), and approximately 180–213 more mg/person/day total sodium (p's <0.0002). SNAP households also purchased an average of 565 kcal/person/day from SSBs and junk food, items targeted by SNAP reform proposals. Results were highly robust to corrections for sample selection bias and to exclusion of observations with potentially misreported SNAP status.ConclusionsEfforts to improve dietary quality of SNAP participants may wish to focus specifically on areas where SNAP participants are falling furthest behind nonparticipants and dietary guidelines, such as fruits, sodium, and SSBs. Because baseline purchases of SSBs and junk foods are high, policies to end subsidies for these items could meaningfully reduce total calories purchased, even if these policies are only modestly effective.Support or Funding InformationFunding for this work came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant 67506, 68793, 70017, 71837); NIH (R01DK098072); and the Carolina Population Center (R24 HD050924, T32 HD007168).

Household adversity and food security: The case of youth in public housing neighborhoods

ABSTRACTThis paper sets out to explore factors that may be associated with food hardship among young people who reside in public housing (N = 124). The study is guided by Family Stress Theory and uses data from a cross-sectional study of African–American adolescents living in a public housing neighborhood located in West Baltimore. Results suggest that food security (defined as availability, accessibility, and adequacy) was negatively related to mother’s incarceration, large households, household experiencing material hardships, and interpersonal conflict as well as violence. It was also linked to community disorganization. Program and policy implications are suggested.

Household Food and Nutrition Security: A Case Study of Children on Nutrition Supplementation Program

A household food and nutrition security measurement of children on the nutrition supplementation programme is the focus of this study. A sample of 136 children aged 6-72 months and their caregivers...

Przygotowanie przetworów z warzyw jako przejaw racjonalnej konsumpcji żywności w polskich gospodarstwach domowych

Przygotowanie przetworów z warzyw jako przejaw racjonalnej konsumpcji żywności w polskich gospodarstwach domowych

世帯の経済状態と子どもの食生活との関連に関する研究

【目的】本研究は，日本において，世帯収入と子どもの食生活との関連を明らかにすることを目的とした。【方法】 2013年9～12月，東日本4県6市村の19小学校に在籍する小学5年生（10～11歳）及びその保護者を対象に自記式の質問紙調査を実施した。世帯収入が貧困基準以下の群とそれ以外の群に分け，食事区分ごとの食事摂取頻度，家庭での食品の摂取頻度及び外食の摂取頻度と世帯収入との関連について，χ2 検定を用いて検討した。その後，摂取頻度に関する項目を目的変数とし，説明変数は世帯収入として多変量ロジスティック回帰分析を行った。調整変数は児童の性別，居住地域としたものをモデル1，モデル1に家族構成を加えたものをモデル2とした。【結果】調査に同意が得られた1,231名のうち920名を解析の対象者とした。χ2 検定の結果，世帯収入群別に有意な差がみられたのは朝食，野菜，インスタント麺，外食の摂取頻度だった。多変量解析の結果，モデル1，モデル2共に，低収入群が低収入以外群と比べて，学校がある日，休みの日共に朝食の摂取頻度，家庭での野菜の摂取頻度および外食の摂取頻度が低く，魚や肉の加工品，インスタント麺の摂取頻度が高かった。【結論】日本において，世帯収入が貧困基準以下の世帯の子どもは，朝食，野菜，外食の摂取頻度が低く，肉や魚の加工品，インスタント麺の摂取頻度が高いことが示され，世帯の収入と子どもの食生活に関連があることが示唆された。

НАРУЖНАЯ РЕКЛАМА КРУПНОГО ПРОМЫШЛЕННОГО ГОРОДА: КОНТЕНТ И СТРАТЕГИИ ВЛИЯНИЯ

The article presents analysis of outdoor advertising in a large industrial city (through the example of Perm) in terms of the content and perception. It has been found that 88,8 % of outdoor advertising is commercial, 11,2 % belongs to social advertising. More than 70 % of social advertising is aimed at the prevention of drug addiction and AIDS. About 30 % aims to promote a healthy lifestyle, charity, patriotism, road safety, etc. Sellers of household appliances, furniture, clothing and food (these being the basic needs of an average resident of a metropolis), as well as companies providing telecommunication and banking services are the most aggressive in the area of commercial advertising (more than 80 % of advertisements). As the analysis shows, outdoor advertising campaigns in the sphere of social advertising in most cases receive negative assessment from citizens. The hypothesis was put forward that the mechanisms underlying perception of social advertising (by analogy with commercial advertising) are identification and self-image. Aggressive strategies in presenting information cause an individual’s rejection since he/she does not want to identify themselves with negative characters from social advertising. A series of surveys was conducted to identify evaluations of social advertising by residents of the metropolis. 72 % of the respondents attribute the content of advertising to themselves and 85 % of the respondents assess advertising positively if the information is presented in the context of positive communication strategies. The data obtained are consistent with the characteristics of advertising activities in psychology.

Buying less and wasting less food. Changes in household food energy purchases, energy intakes and energy density between 2007 and 2012 with and without adjustment for food waste.

Consumers in the UK responded to the rapid increases in food prices between 2007 and 2009 partly by reducing the amount of food energy bought. Household food and drink waste has also decreased since 2007. The present study explored the combined effects of reductions in food purchases and waste on estimated food energy intakes and dietary energy density. The amount of food energy purchased per adult equivalent was calculated from Kantar Worldpanel household food and drink purchase data for 2007 and 2012. Food energy intakes were estimated by adjusting purchase data for food and drink waste, using waste factors specific to the two years and scaled for household size. Scotland. Households in Scotland (n 2657 in 2007; n 2841 in 2012). The amount of food energy purchased decreased between 2007 and 2012, from 8·6 to 8·2 MJ/adult equivalent per d (P<0·001). After accounting for the decrease in food waste, estimated food energy intake was not significantly different (7·3 and 7·2 MJ/adult equivalent per d for 2007 and 2012, respectively; P=0·186). Energy density of foods purchased increased slightly from 700 to 706 kJ/100 g (P=0·010). While consumers in Scotland reduced the amount of food energy that they purchased between 2007 and 2012, this was balanced by reductions in household food and drink waste over the same time, resulting in no significant change in net estimated energy intake of foods brought into the home.

Impact of Climate Change on Food Security of Rural Householders in Gibaish Locality of West Kordofan State, Sudan

The current study focused on the linkage between climate change and food security of rural householders in Gibaish locality, western Sudan. The overall objective was to explore the level of food security and impacts of climate change variables on the food security of rural householders in the study area.. Multistage-stratified random sampling technique was used to select 70 households. Data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources and analyzed using descriptive statistics, household economy approach, linear programming, partial crop budget, dominance analysis, marginal analysis, sensitivity analysis, linear regression and correlation coefficients analysis were employed. In this study, the household's economy approach for the daily energy received per person per day in K. calories was estimated as 2105. With respect to WHO, minimum rate of 2300 K. calories per person per day was set as standard level. Therefore, this result implies that the household is marginally food insecure. Linear programming results indicated that the maximum combination that maximized farmer's income was attained by millet, groundnut and okra crops combination with a total SDG 11,148 (1 $ = SDG 6.64). When taking into consideration the household's food consumption behavior it was found that increase over decrease was lesser by 184%. These results ensured that the proportional combination of the food items consumed at local level would not enable the households to meet their minimum energy requirement for a healthy and active life. It was also noted that climatic variation in year 2013 cropping season has negative impact on food security situation. Partial crop budget revealed that all crops gave positive net returns. Groundnut and okra gave maximum net benefits of SDG 2056 and SDG 1380, respectively. Dominance analysis showed that Gum Arabic and Roselle were dominated due to their lower net field benefits as compared to other treatments. Results of marginal analysis showed that maximum marginal rate of return of 13733.4% was obtained by groundnut). It is noted that farmers with poor resources can accomplish returns of SDG 1.00 benefits by sowing groundnut to obtain additional SDG 137.3. Sensitivity analysis that assumed costs over run and benefits shortfall revealed that groundnut and sorghum combination was of high Marginal Rate of Return (MRR) of 12,484.9, 12,360 and 537.9 and SDG 532.5, respectively. Linear regression ensured that maximum average temperature significantly (P≤0.05) affected millet production. Other food production crops were not affected by climatic factors. Correlation coefficients showed increasing temperature and rainfall fluctuation was reported as major threats to food production. Sorghum was negatively (-0.705, p=0.01) correlated with time and growing period, millet moderately correlated with time (-0.494). However, sesame, groundnut, Roselle, cowpea and watermelon were weakly and negatively correlated with time. Consequently, millet (-0.385), sorghum (-0.128), sesame (-0.266), groundnut (-0.185), Roselle (0.242), cowpea (0.185) and watermelon (0.034) were not significantly affected, and it has negative and positive minimum correlation with average maximum temperature.

Aggregate Effects of Womenn's Empowerment

How do shifts in intra-household gender dynamics affect the economy at large? This paper parametrizes intra-household gender-powered decision-making and endogenous distributions of income to allow for the aggregation of key macroeconomic variables. In equilibrium, we find that greater women's empowerment increases precautionary savings to offset low endowment realizations. The effect is stronger among poor households who hedge against hitting a subsistence bound. Given the boost in savings at the bottom of the distribution, more empowerment leads to less poverty and lower income inequality. Another equilibrium prediction of the model is an increase in the household's food intake regardless of income, reflecting women's greater preference for food compared to men. The model's predictions are mapped to Mexico's 2014 National Household Income and Expenditure Survey which identifies the gender of the head of the household. These predictions have policy implications in the areas of monetary policy, social policy, financial intermediation and banking.

Climatic conditions and child height: Sex-specific vulnerability and the protective effects of sanitation and food markets in Nepal

Environmental conditions in early life are known to have impacts on later health outcomes, but causal mechanisms and potential remedies have been difficult to discern. This paper uses the Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys of 2006 and 2011, combined with earlier NASA satellite observations of variation in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at each child’s location and time of birth to identify the trimesters of gestation and periods of infancy when climate variation is linked to attained height later in life. We find significant differences by sex: males are most affected by conditions in their second trimester of gestation, and females in the first three months after birth. Each 100-point difference in NDVI at those times is associated with a difference in height-for-age z-score (HAZ) measured at age 12–59 months of 0.088 for boys and 0.054 for girls, an effect size similar to that of moving within the distribution of household wealth by close to one quintile for boys and one decile for girls. The entire seasonal change in NDVI from peak to trough is approximately 200–300 points during the 2000–2011 study period, implying a seasonal effect on HAZ similar to one to three quintiles of household wealth. This effect is observed only in households without toilets; in households with toilets, there is no seasonal fluctuation, implying protection against climatic conditions that facilitate disease transmission. We also use data from the Nepal Living Standards Surveys on district-level agricultural production and marketing, and find a climate effect on child growth only in districts where households’ food consumption derives primarily from their own production. Robustness tests find no evidence of selection effects, and placebo regression results reveal no significant artefactual correlations. The timing and sex-specificity of climatic effects are consistent with previous studies, while the protective effects of household sanitation and food markets are novel indications of mechanisms by which households can gain resilience against adverse climatic conditions.

Adoption of nutrition and environment-related technologies by women: Case of IFAD’s interventions on cassava in south-east Nigeria

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) mainstreamed gender, nutrition and environment issues in her interventions on cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) value chain to achieve food nutrition and health securities. However, implementation strategies could have affected adoption of technologies along the line. This study assessed adoption of nutrition and environment-related technologies/information (NE p<0.05).and environment-related technologies (F=29.365; p<0.05). Serious constraints to adoption of technologies included inadequate infrastructural development ( X =3.99), inability to afford inputs ( X =3.98), poor access to capital and credit ( X =3.97), low level of education ( X =3.95) and low extension contact ( X =3.92). The findings underline the achievements of IFAD in targeting women. More interventions on household food, nutrition and environment are recommended to address the barriers to cassava technology adoption and encourage more women’s participation. Keywords : Women, nutrition, environment, cassava technology adoption, IFAD, Nigeria.

The Effects of a Nutrition‐Sensitive Agricultural Intervention on Social Support, Food Security and Maternal Self‐Efficacy in Complementary Feeding

IntroductionNutrition‐sensitive agriculture has been the subject of much recent global interest, however, the empirical evidence of the individual pathways to improved nutrition is scant. Care behaviors are recognized as central to child nutrition, yet caregiver resources to perform feeding behaviors are understudied, generally, and specifically in the context of agricultural interventions. Self‐efficacy is an important caregiver resource that influences maternal behaviors around young child feeding practices. We evaluated the impacts of a multi‐faceted intervention (homegardening, gender sensitization) with and without nutrition education on maternal self‐efficacy in complementary feeding. We further explored the mediating roles of spousal support and household food security.MethodsRealigning Agriculture for Improved Nutrition (RAIN) was a four year homegardening intervention targeting rural women in the Central province of Zambia who were pregnant or had a child under two years of age. The intervention was implemented by Concern Zambia and evaluated using a cluster‐randomized design by the International Food Policy Research Institute. The unit of randomization was the census survey area, within which a number of women's groups consisting of 15–20 member were created based on the number of eligible women. Bi‐monthly group meetings, led by community agricultural educators and community health volunteers (CHV), served as the main platform for intervention delivery and were supplemented by home visits. We administered a mid‐term survey, two years after the intervention began, to a random sample of 759 women with children under two years of age in intervention and control groups. We conducted both intention‐to‐treat and per‐protocol analyses using SEM in STATA 13.0.ResultsThe agricultural intervention significantly improved maternal self‐efficacy (β = 0.82; p &lt;0.001) and this was partially mediated by increasing gains in spousal support (β = 0.43; p &lt;0.001) and food security (β = 0.78; p &lt;0.001). We found similar results in women who additionally received nutrition education, but there were no additional gains in self‐efficacy when compared to women who received the agricultural intervention without nutrition education. We discovered substantial variability in the delivery of nutrition education due to low CHV participation. Only 73% of CHVs attended their last meeting, compared to 98% of agricultural educators and 25% of women could not recall their CHV's name. The average number of home visits performed by CHVs was 1.6 compared to 7.5 by agricultural educators. Our per protocol analysis showed additional gains to self‐efficacy for women with high levels of delivery and participation in the agricultural intervention (β = 0.97; p &lt;0.001) with the greatest gains in women who also received nutrition education (β = 1.10; p &lt;0.001). The difference in selfefficacy between women who did and did not receive nutrition education was not significant.ConclusionThis home‐gardening intervention improved maternal self‐efficacy in complementary feeding through improvements in spousal support and food security. The addition of nutrition education provided no additional gains to self‐efficacy in complementary feeding. Leveraging existing health infrastructure, notably community health volunteers, to add nutrition education to an agricultural project presented challenges to delivery in this setting.Support or Funding InformationNSF‐IGERT and USAID

Framing Private Sphere Consumer Behavior

This study investigates characteristics of consumers likely to be influenced by the information provided by an online environmental infomediary (OEI) GoodGuide.com, which advises consumers on the overall and specific sustainability attributes of personal care and household chemical and food products. The value-belief-norm theory and the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale were found useful in describing consumers more likely to be “green.” A series of logistic regressions, multiple regressions, and t-tests were used in this study. Study results indicate the importance of the value-belief-norm theory and NEP scale in understanding how consumers would choose to use GoodGuide.com information in making their green purchases and social interactions using social networking and mobile apps.

Eating breakfast together as a family: mealtime experiences and associations with dietary intake among adolescents in rural Minnesota, USA.

Although existing evidence links breakfast frequency to better dietary quality, little is known specifically in regard to the benefits associated with eating breakfast together with one's family. The present study describes the prevalence and experience of having family meals at breakfast among rural families and examines associations between meal frequency and adolescent diet quality. Data were drawn from Project BreakFAST, a group-randomized trial aimed at increasing school breakfast participation in rural Minnesota high schools, USA. Linear mixed models were used to examine associations between student reports of family breakfast frequency and Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010) scores while accounting for clustering within schools, demographics and household food security. Adolescent students from sixteen schools completed online surveys, height and weight measurements, and dietary recalls at baseline in 2012-2014. The sample included 827 adolescents (55·1 % girls) in grades 9-10 who reported eating breakfast on at most three days per school week. On average, adolescents reported eating breakfast with their family 1·3 (sd 1·9) times in the past week. Family breakfast meals occurred most frequently in the homes of adolescents who reported a race other than white (P=0·002) or Hispanic ethnicity (P=0·02). Family breakfast frequency was directly associated with adolescent involvement in preparing breakfast meals (P<0·001) and positive attitudes (P≤0·01) about mealtime importance, interactions and structure. Family breakfast frequency was unrelated to most diet quality markers. Family meals may be one important context of opportunity for promoting healthy food patterns at breakfast. Additional research is needed to better inform and evaluate strategies.

The association between self-rated eating habits and dietary behavior in two Latino neighborhoods: Findings from Proyecto MercadoFRESCO.

ObjectiveLatinos are the largest racial and ethnic minority group in the United States and bear a disproportionate burden of obesity related chronic disease. Despite national efforts to improve dietary habits and prevent obesity among Latinos, obesity rates remain high. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between self-rated dietary quality and dietary behavior among Latinos and how this may vary by socio-demographics to help inform future public health efforts aiming to improve eating habits and obesity rates.DesignCross-sectional study using a series of chi-square tests, the non-parametric Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test and logistic regression to explore self-rated eating habits.SettingTwo urban, low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Los Angeles County.Subjects1000 adults who self-identified as their household's primary food purchaser and preparer were interviewed from 2012 to 2013. Households were randomly selected based on their proximity to corner stores participating in a project to improve the food environment.ResultsMost respondents (59%) report “good” eating habits. Significant associations between “good” eating habits and overall health, fruit and vegetable consumption were observed (p < 0.001). Despite these promising findings, we also find high levels of regular soda and energy-dense food consumption.ConclusionThis study revealed a general understanding that healthy dietary habits are associated with fruit and vegetable consumption among Latinos in two urban neighborhoods. However, there is a need for more targeted health promotion and nutrition education efforts on the risks associated with soda and energy-dense food consumption to help improve dietary habits and obesity levels in low-income Latino communities.