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Food and health

Healthy eating norms and food consumption

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 592–601 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

Beliefs about what people think they ought to eat to be healthy (‘healthy eating norms (HENs)’) may be important influences on food consumption. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive roles of normative expectations and demographics, personal values, substance use behaviours and body weight on reported food consumption among middle-aged Australians.

Subjects/methods:

A questionnaire was administered by mail to a random sample of people aged 40 years and above, drawn from the Electoral Rolls in Victoria, Australia. Part of the questionnaire contained questions about the respondents’ beliefs about what should they eat to be healthy, what actually they ate, their personal values, smoking and alcohol use, as well as self-reported heights and weights and demographic characteristics.

Results:

Respondents’ reported food consumption did not match their HENs. Demographics, smoking, body mass index (BMI) and personal values, and HENs were associated with reported consumption but the relationships differed among men and women. Generally, high energy-dense, nutrition-poor (EDNP) food consumption was negatively associated with age. Fruit and vegetable HEN and consumption was positively linked to universalist values but negatively related to smoking status among men. In contrast in women, fruit and vegetable HENs were positively related to income and education while EDNP HEN was negatively associated with age and income but positively linked to body weight and power values.

Conclusions:

Reported food consumption was associated with HEN, personal values, demographics, smoking and BMI through different pathways among men and women. The implications for nutrition promotion are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Wendy Hunter for managing the collection of the data for this study and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful comments. We also thank the Australian Research Council (grant no LP 0560363), Sodexho Australia and Sanitarium Health Food Company, who provided funding and support for the study.

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  1. Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia

    W C Wang & A Worsley

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Correspondence to W C Wang.

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Wang, W., Worsley, A. Healthy eating norms and food consumption. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 592–601 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.2

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