Background: Altering the choice architecture of decision contexts can assist behaviour change, but the acceptability of this approach has sparked debate. Considering hypothetical interventions, people generally welcome the approach for promoting health, but little evidence exists on acceptance in the real world. Furthermore, research has yet to explore the implementers' perspective, acknowledging the multidimensionality of the acceptability construct.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This systematic literature review and meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of the nudging approach toward sustainable food consumption in the university canteen context.
Methods: The systematic literature search was carried out in 5 databases, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, and the Royal Library, identifying 14 eligible studies and selecting 9 articles containing adequate information for meta-analysis. The nudging strategies were classified using the typology of interventions in the proximal physical microenvironments framework that resulted in 5 different intervention types: availability, position, size, presentation, and information that belonged to either intervention class-altering properties or placement.
Immersive virtual reality (VR) videos can replicate complex real-life situations in a systematic, repeatable and versatile manner. New product development trajectories should consider the complexities of daily life eating situations. The creation of immersive contexts of a product with varying levels of appropriateness could be a useful tool for product developers in evaluating the extent to which context may influence food acceptance and eating behavior.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study aimed at exploring associations among meal-related behaviour, social engagement factors, satisfaction with food-related life (SWFL) to assess food-related wellbeing and subjective wellbeing in Danish older adults living alone. Three hundred and eighty-eight older adults aged 65-75 years from six Danish municipalities completed an online or article-based survey addressing home cooking, commensality, loneliness, SWFL and subjective wellbeing. Home cooking frequency and self-perceived cooking skills were positively associated with SWFL but not with subjective wellbeing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the impact of an efficacy-focused virtual reality (VR) intervention designed according to instructional design principles on eating behavior. In the preregistered intervention study, psychology students were randomly assigned to nine seminar blocks. Employing parallel design, they were allocated to either a VR intervention to experience the environmental impact of food behavior (1) and alter the future by revising food choices (2) or to a passive control condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSince the beginning of the 21st century, interest in vegan diets has been rapidly increasing in most countries. Misconceptions about vegan diets are widespread among the general population and health professionals. Vegan diets can be health-promoting and may offer certain important advantages compared to typical Western (and other mainstream) eating patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human gut microbiota are the microorganisms (generally bacteria and archaea) that live in the digestive tracts of humans. Due to their numerous functions, the gut microbiota can be considered a virtual organ of the body, playing a pivotal role in health maintenance. Dietary habits contribute to gut microbiota composition, and evidence from observational and intervention studies suggest that vegan diets may promote health, potentially through affecting the diverse ecosystem of beneficial bacteria in the gut.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe meat production industry is one of the leading contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. Cultured meat presents itself as a potential eco- and animal-friendly meat substitute which has the potential to eradicate animal cruelty and reduce both the environmental footprint and the risk of zoonotic illnesses, while delivering a nutrient-dense product. The purpose of this study was to investigate how consumers perceive cultured meat and if the frequency of meat consumption is related to their intention of trying or purchasing cultured meat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study attempts to predict plant-based yogurt consumers' intention to consume plant-based yogurt alternatives in Denmark employing Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical framework. An online survey was conducted among 265 consumers recruited through convenience (snowball) sampling. The results from structural equation modelling analysis show that attitude (β = 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
October 2020
Diet-related chronic disease is a global health epidemic giving rise to a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. With the rise of the digital revolution, there has been increased interest in using digital technology for eating behavioural change as a mean of diet-related chronic disease prevention. However, evidence on digital dietary behaviour change is relatively scarce.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe food sector is increasingly turning toward sustainability issues. A sustainable food system should provide sufficient, nutritious food for all within limited natural resources. Plant-based food and proteins are a recent, growing trend setting out to contribute to this challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood choices are often driven by impulsive tendencies rather than rational consideration. Some individuals may find it more difficult resisting impulses related to unhealthy food choices, and low self-control and high impulsivity have been suggested to be linked to these behaviors. Recent shifts have been made towards developing strategies that target automatic processes of decision-making and focus on adjusting the environment, referred to as nudging interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study was designed to assess whether the combined effect of taste-congruent and incongruent extrinsic visual cues presented in virtual reality (VR) influences the perception of sweetness and product liking. Three VR environments (sweet-congruent, sweet-incongruent, and neutral) were created based on the evidence in existing literature. Participants tasted the same beverage in three VR environments and evaluated the environment and beverage liking, as well as perceived taste intensity (sweetness, sourness, and bitterness), congruency, comfort, and environment vividness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Special Issue "Food Choice and Nutrition" deals with the relationship between the food choices of different population groups or consumer segments and its impact on the nutritional status, improvement of dietary quality, food and nutrition-related behaviour, food preferences, taste education, sensory characteristics of foods and their role in consumer choice, etc [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen humans age, changes in body composition arise along with lifestyle-associated disorders influencing fitness and physical decline. Here we provide a comprehensive view of dietary intake, physical activity, gut microbiota (GM), and host metabolome in relation to physical fitness of 207 community-dwelling subjects aged +65 years. Stratification on anthropometric/body composition/physical performance measurements (ABPm) variables identified two phenotypes (high/low-fitness) clearly linked to dietary intake, physical activity, GM, and host metabolome patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Increasing pressure from governments, public health bodies, and consumers is driving a need for increased food-based information provision in eating-out situations. Meals eaten outside the home are known to be less healthy than meals eaten at home, and consumers can complain of poor information on the health impact and allergen content of meals eaten out.
Objective: This paper aimed to describe the development and early assessment of a mobile phone app that allows the provision of accurate personalized food-based information while considering individual characteristics (allergies, diet type, and preferences) to enable informed consumer choice when eating out.
This study explored consumer awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards a plant-based diet (PBD) in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain. Furthermore, it assessed knowledge and attitudinal determinants of whether consumers consider the term PBD more appealing than VTD (vegetarian) or VND (vegan). An online survey was conducted among young adults (age 18-30 years) (n = 438) in October 2018.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this umbrella review was to provide an update on the latest knowledge in the field of food choice and nutrition. Databases Scopus and ISI-Web of Science were searched for "food choice" AND nutrition. Papers were included if they were systematic reviews published between January 2017 and August 2019 on any subpopulation group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProvegetarian diets (i.e., preference for plant-derived foods but not exclusion of animal foods) have been associated with a reduced risk of long-term weight gain and could be more easily embraced than strict vegetarian diets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To test the impact of a nudge strategy (dish of the day strategy) and the factors associated with vegetable dish choice, upon food selection by European adolescents in a real foodservice setting.
Methods: A cross-sectional quasi-experimental study was implemented in restaurants in four European countries: Denmark, France, Italy and United Kingdom. In total, 360 individuals aged 12-19 years were allocated into control or intervention groups, and asked to select from meat-based, fish-based, or vegetable-based meals.
Understanding the demands of older consumers is of importance for successful development of functional foods targeted at this segment of the population. This study aimed to examine older adults' attitudes towards food carriers for protein enrichment. In total 182 consumers (mean age: 66.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo promote healthy aging and minimize age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, adequate protein intake throughout the day is needed. Developing and commercializing protein-enriched foods holds great potential to help fulfill the nutritional demands of older consumers. However, innovation of appealing protein-enriched products is a challenging task since protein-enrichment often leads to reduced food palatability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we outlined contextual identifications within positive mealtime practices among home-living older adults in Denmark. We aimed to understand and facilitate optimal dietary intake and to promote well-being for older adults who live at home. We used data from 22 participants, who wrote diary entries and took photos of their meal experiences over a 6-day period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBecause eating habits are inseparably linked with people's physical health, effective behaviour interventions are highly demanded to promote healthy eating among older people. The aim of this systematic review was to identify effective diet interventions for older people and provide useful evidence and direction for further research. Three electronic bibliographic databases-PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection were used to conduct a systematic literature search based on fixed inclusion and exclusion criteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dietary choices in out-of-home eating are key for individual as well as for public health. These dietary choices are caused by a wide array of determinants, one of which is automatic decision-making. Nudging is attracting considerable interest due to its understanding and application of heuristic biases among consumers.
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