Abstract
Background: Diet and nutrition are major determinants of public health and are associated with a large number of diseases. Therefore, in order to plan actions to promote global health, it is crucial to understand people’s food choices.
Objective: The aim of this study was the development and validation of a new instrument, a questionnaire to measure psycho-social motivations associated with food choices and eating practices.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 382 adult participants. The questionnaires were applied after informed consent only to adults (aged 18 or over) and the data were collected from January to April 2017 among the Portuguese population. The analysis has been conducted to explore the item-item correlation and the reliability of this new instrument.
Results: The results indicated satisfactory correlations between the items of the different variables, except for Variable D (Social and cultural motivations) that did not show strong and significant correlations for almost any items. Considering all the items in each of the variables studied, Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.32 for the marketing and commercial motivations to 0.64 for the economical and availability motivations. When some items were removed from the variables, the values of Cronbach’s alpha increased and ranged from 0.66 for social and cultural motivations to 0.79 for health motivations.
Conclusion: This work suggested that this questionnaire could be considered a suitable tool for exploring food choice determinants.
Keywords: Diet, eating, food choices, health, motivations, nutrition, questionnaire, validation.
Graphical Abstract
[1]
European Food Information Council. Why do we eat what we eat:Food choice - a complex behaviour 2004. Available at https: //www.eufic.org/en/food-today/article/why-do-we-eat-what-we-eat-food-choice-a-complex-behaviour
[2]
Renner B, Sproesser G, Strohbach S, Schupp HT. Why we eat what we eat. Appetite 2012; 59(1): 117-28.
[3]
Pula K, Parks CD, Ross CF. Regulatory focus and food choice motives. Prevention orientation associated with mood, convenience, and familiarity. Appetite 2014; 78: 15-22.
[4]
Steptoe A, Pollard TM, Wardle J. Development of a measure of the motives underlying the selection of food: The food choice questionnaire. Appetite 1995; 25(3): 267-84.
[5]
MachÃn L, Giménez A, Vidal L, Ares G. Influence of Context on Motives Underlying Food Choice. J Sens Stud 2014; 29: 313-24.
[6]
Fotopoulos C, Krystallis A, Vassallo M, Pagiaslis A. Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) revisited. Suggestions for the development of an enhanced general food motivation model. Appetite 2009; 52(1): 199-208.
[7]
Bublitz MG, Peracchio LA, Block LG. Why did I eat that? Perspectives on food decision making and dietary restraint. J Consum Psychol 2010; 20: 239-58.
[8]
Žeželj I, Milošević J, Stojanović Ž, Ognjanov G. The motivational and informational basis of attitudes toward foods with health claims. Appetite 2012; 59(3): 960-7.
[9]
Forouzanfar MH, Alexander L, Anderson HR, et al. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet 2015; 386(10010): 2287-323.
[10]
Thorndike AN, Riis J, Sonnenberg LM, Levy DE. Traffic-light labels and choice architecture: promoting healthy food choices. Am J Prev Med 2014; 46(2): 143-9.
[11]
Barlow P, Reeves A, McKee M, Galea G, Stuckler D. Unhealthy diets, obesity and time discounting: A systematic literature review and network analysis. Obes Rev 2016; 17(9): 810-9.
[12]
European Food Information Council. The Determinants of Food Choice 2006. Available at https: //www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/the-determinants-of-food-choice
[13]
Markovina J, Stewart-Knox BJ, Rankin A, et al. Food4Me study: Validity and reliability of food choice questionnaire in 9 European countries. Food Qual Prefer 2015; 45: 26-32.
[14]
Jackson B, Lynne Cooper M, Mintz L, Albino A. Motivations to eat: Scale development and validation. J Res Pers 2003; 37: 297-318.
[15]
van Strien T, Frijters JER, Bergers GPA, Defares PB. The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) for assessment of restrained, emotional, and external eating behavior. Int J Eat Disord 1986; 5: 295-315.
[16]
Roininen K, Lähteenmäki L, Tuorila H. Quantification of consumer attitudes to health and hedonic characteristics of foods. Appetite 1999; 33(1): 71-88.
[17]
Lindeman M, Väänänen M. Measurement of ethical food choice motives. Appetite 2000; 34(1): 55-9.
[18]
Aikman SN, Crites SL, Fabrigar LR. Beyond Affect and Cognition: Identification of the Informational Bases of Food Attitudes. J Appl Soc Psychol 2006; 36: 340-82.
[19]
Hill MM, Hill A. Investigação por Questionário 2a Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administra¸c˜ao de Coimbra: Portuga 2009.
[22]
Pestana MH, Gageiro JN. Análise de Dados para Ciências Sociais -A complementaridade do SPSS. 6a ed. Brasil: Edições Sílabo 2014.
[23]
Stevens JP. Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences 5th ed. Routledge: New York 2009.
[24]
Broen MPG, Moonen AJH, Kuijf ML, et al. Factor analysis of the Hamilton depression rating scale in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2015; 21(2): 142-6.
[25]
Hellstrom WJG, Feldman R, Rosen RC, Smith T, Kaufman G, Tursi J. Bother and distress associated with Peyronie’s disease: Validation of the Peyronie’s disease questionnaire. J Urol 2013; 190(2): 627-34.
[26]
Delaney M, McCarthy MB. Saints, sinners and non-believers: the moral space of food. A qualitative exploration of beliefs and perspectives on healthy eating of Irish adults aged 50-70. Appetite 2014; 73: 105-13.
[27]
Guenther PM, Casavale KO, Reedy J, et al. Update of the Healthy Eating Index: HEI-2010. J Acad Nutr Diet 2013; 113(4): 569-80.
[28]
Rao M, Afshin A, Singh G, Mozaffarian D. Do healthier foods and diet patterns cost more than less healthy options? A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open 2013; 3(12): e004277.
[29]
Wunderlich S, Gatto KA. Consumer perception of genetically modified organisms and sources of information. Adv Nutr 2015; 6(6): 842-51.
[31]
Immonen A-M. Essays on emotional influences in consumer food choice: Understanding emotional intricacies in consumers’ price vs ethicality trade-off decisions, and perceptions of genetically modified food products 2015. Avaiable at: https: //helda.helsinki.fi/ handle/10138/157883
[32]
Kandiah J, Yake M, Jones J, Meyer M. Stress influences appetite and comfort food preferences in college women. Nutr Res 2006; 26: 118-23.
[33]
Beydoun MA. The interplay of gender, mood, and stress hormones in the association between emotional eating and dietary behavior. J Nutr 2014; 144(8): 1139-41.
[34]
Konttinen H, Silventoinen K, Sarlio-Lähteenkorva S, Männistö S, Haukkala A. Emotional eating and physical activity self-efficacy as pathways in the association between depressive symptoms and adiposity indicators. Am J Clin Nutr 2010; 92(5): 1031-9.
[35]
Dallman MF, Pecoraro N, Akana SF, et al. Chronic stress and obesity: A new view of “comfort foodâ. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100(20): 11696-701.
[36]
Nevanperä NJ, Hopsu L, Kuosma E, Ukkola O, Uitti J, Laitinen JH. Occupational burnout, eating behavior, and weight among working women. Am J Clin Nutr 2012; 95(4): 934-43.
[38]
Bauer KW, Laska MN, Fulkerson JA, Neumark-Sztainer D. Longitudinal and secular trends in parental encouragement for healthy eating, physical activity, and dieting throughout the adolescent years. J Adolesc Health 2011; 49(3): 306-11.
[39]
Lake AA, Rugg-Gunn AJ, Hyland RM, Wood CE, Mathers JC, Adamson AJ. Longitudinal dietary change from adolescence to adulthood: Perceptions, attributions and evidence. Appetite 2004; 42(3): 255-63.
[40]
Pedersen S, Grønhøj A, Thøgersen J. Following family or friends. Social norms in adolescent healthy eating. Appetite 2015; 86: 54-60.
[41]
Onwezen MC. I did good, and we did bad: The impact of collective versus private emotions on pro-environmental food consumption. Food Res Int 2015; 76(Part 2): 261-8.
[42]
Honkanen P, Verplanken B, Olsen SO. Ethical values and motives driving organic food choice. J Consum Behav 2006; 5: 420-30.
[43]
Auger P, Devinney TM. Do what consumers say matter? The misalignment of preferences with unconstrained ethical intentions. J Bus Ethics 2007; 76: 361-83.
[44]
Dowd K, Burke KJ. The influence of ethical values and food choice motivations on intentions to purchase sustainably sourced foods. Appetite 2013; 69: 137-44.
[45]
Carrington MJ, Neville BA, Whitwell GJ. Why ethical consumers don’t walk their talk: Towards a framework for understanding the gap between the ethical purchase intentions and actual buying behaviour of ethically minded consumers. J Bus Ethics 2010; 97: 139-58.
[46]
Johnston JL, Fanzo JC, Cogill B. Understanding sustainable diets: A descriptive analysis of the determinants and processes that influence diets and their impact on health, food security, and environmental sustainability. Adv Nutr 2014; 5(4): 418-29.
[47]
Boyland EJ, Halford JCG. Television advertising and branding. Effects on eating behaviour and food preferences in children. Appetite 2013; 62: 236-41.
[48]
Eertmans A, Victoir A, Notelaers G, Vansant G, Van den Bergh O. The food choice questionnaire: Factorial invariant over western urban populations? Food Qual Prefer 2006; 17: 344-52.
[49]
Honkanen P, Frewer L. Russian consumers’ motives for food choice. Appetite 2009; 52(2): 363-71.
[50]
Milošević J, Žeželj I, Gorton M, Barjolle D. Understanding the motives for food choice in Western Balkan Countries. Appetite 2012; 58(1): 205-14.
[51]
Davis FB. Educational measurements and their interpretation Wadsworth Publishing Company: Belmont, California p.. 1964; 422.
[52]
Hair J, Black W, Babin B, Anderson R. Multivariate Data Analysis - a global perspective 7th ed. Pearson Education Limited: UK. 2009.
Article Metrics
44
3
1
1