Factors Influencing Food Choices of Adolescents: Findings from Focus-Group Discussions with Adolescents
Section snippets
Study Population and Study Design
The study population included 141 male and female adolescents in 7th and 10th grade from 2 large inner-city schools in St Paul, Minn, who participated in 21 focus groups. The mean age of the 7th graders was 12.6 years (range=12–14 years) and the mean age of the 10th graders was 16.0 years (range=15–19 years). This school district was chosen because it serves one of the most diverse racial/ethnic student populations in the state. Adolescents reported their race/ethnicity as follows: 40% white,
Why Do Adolescents Eat What They Eat?
Factors that adolescents viewed as influencing their food choices were categorized into 3 levels on the basis of the frequency and extensiveness with which the participants talked about them. The first level includes factors that were talked about most frequently and extensively. In descending order of frequency mentioned, the level-1 factors were hunger and food cravings, appeal of food (primarily taste), time considerations (of adolescents and parents), and convenience of food. Level-2
Discussion
In developing models to explain adolescent eating behaviors and interventions to improve these behaviors, it is important to gather adolescent input regarding factors they view as influencing their food choices, difficulties they face in making healthful food choices, and suggestions for helping them eat in a more healthful manner. Findings from this study have implications for the development of quantitative surveys aimed at further study of factors associated with adolescent nutritional
Applications/Conclusions
The findings demonstrate the broad range of factors perceived by adolescents as influencing their food choices and suggest that the relationships between these factors are quite complex. Surveys aimed at developing theoretical models explaining the food choices of adolescents need to cover a broad range of factors if the model is to explain a substantial percentage of variance in food choice behaviors. To date, few studies have attempted to empirically test comprehensive models explaining
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