Food, Physical Health, and Wellbeing
This is my review of a Food, Physical Health, and Wellbeing study. In which I will explain the key points for healthy eaters. So this is for people who are concerned about how diet affects their wellbeing. Because it helps you discuss your health concerns with professionals. In the hope that you can support your doctor’s advice with better food choices.
Citation for Food, Physical Health, and Wellbeing
This is a Foodary review of:
Ares, Gastón, Luis De Saldamando, Ana Giménez, and Rosires Deliza. “Food and wellbeing. Towards a consumer-based approach.” Appetite 74 (2014): 61-69.
At the time of writing, this study has been cited by 69 other studies.
Food, Physical Health, and Wellbeing Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumers perceive how food affects their wellbeing.
a clear understanding of how consumers perceive the influence of foods on perceived wellbeing is still lacking. […] the aim of the present work was to investigate consumers’ perception of wellbeing in a food-related context using an explorative qualitative approach.
Jargon-free Abstract
In the jargon-free abstract I present the key points of the original abstract. Replacing jargon with terms more familiar to unqualified people interested in healthy eating. Note that my selection of jargon terms might not match yours. So please ask in the feedback form near the end of the page if you need clarification.
- Background / Introduction
- The study explains the opportunities for improving general healthiness by encouraging wellbeing. Because most health campaigns have met with limited success when focused on restriction and restraint. However, wellbeing is complicated and has no standard definition.
- Methods
- 120 people from Montevideo, Uruguay completed questionnaires:
- Write down the first words that come to your mind when thinking about wellbeing.
- Write down the first words that come to your mind when thinking about foods and wellbeing.
- What characteristics of foods do you consider that harm your wellbeing?
- What characteristics of foods do you consider that contribute to your wellbeing?
- List all the foods you would mention if you had to recommend foods good for wellbeing to a friend.
- List all the foods you would mention if you had to recommend foods not good for wellbeing to a friend.
- List all the ways in which you think food affects your wellbeing.
- Results / Findings
- The study presents several lists and charts summarizing the responses to each question. The overall findings are that people perceive that food affects the following aspects of wellbeing:
- Physical health (Cholesterol levels, Quality of life, Digestive health, Hypertension, Nourishment, Physical status and Diseases such as cancer and anemia).
- Body functioning (Mood, Humor, Satisfaction, Pleasure, Mental performance, Energy, Other emotional aspects, Rest).
- Intellectual capacity
- Positive emotions
- Social contact and relationships
- Limitations
- The authors note the following limitations:
- Limited geographic range.
- All participants completed every question with possible carry-over effects.
- No comparisons with different cultural and economic groups.
Original Abstract
Interest in understanding how foods affect consumers’ perceived wellbeing has grown in the last decade due to the increasing need to modify dietary patterns. Considering that wellbeing is a broad concept that lacks of a unique definition, in order to use and measure this concept it is necessary to explore how consumers understand it, particularly in the context of food consumption. The aim of the present work was to investigate consumers’ perception of wellbeing in a food-related context using an exploratory qualitative approach. A study was carried out with 120 Uruguayan participants using three qualitative techniques: word association, open-ended questions and free listing. Wellbeing in a food-related context was strongly associated with physical health. The expected effects of foods on wellbeing were mainly related to non-communicable diseases such as high cholesterol levels, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. However, hedonic and emotional aspects of food consumption were also salient for consumers perceived wellbeing. The information gathered in this study can contribute to the development of scales for measuring consumer perceived wellbeing when consuming foods.
Food, Physical Health, and Wellbeing Conclusions
The study helps identify factors to include in developing scales to measure wellbeing values for food. Such scales can help influence changes in eating patterns. Also, wellbeing scales
can help develop food products that appeal to consumers.
This type of study can contribute to the construction of scales to measure perceived wellbeing when consuming food products by providing valuable information to select the specific dimensions to be considered when measuring food-related wellbeing.
Measuring consumer perceived wellbeing can be an interesting approach for better investigating how this construct shapes eating patterns and also for the development of successful healthy food products with high consumers acceptance.
Wellbeing and the Pleasure of Food
Cited By
- Wellbeing from Healthy Eating Patterns
- How certain foods encourage wellness and improve quality of life.
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Food, Physical Health, and Wellbeing Vocabulary
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hedonic
⇢ relating to pleasure