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Jakobsdottir G, Stefansdottir RS, Gestsdottir S, Stefansson V, Johannsson E, Rognvaldsdottir V, Gisladottir TL. Changes in health-related lifestyle choices of university students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations between food choices, physical activity and health. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0286345. [PMID: 37352179 PMCID: PMC10289399 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on our lives and society, influencing both individuals' lifestyles and habits. Recent research shows that anxiety and loneliness have continued to rise, along with changes in food and lifestyle choices. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the pandemic influenced food choices and consumption of energy drinks, alcohol, fruits, and vegetables among first-year university students. Additionally, assessing the relationship between mental and physical health, physical activity, and food choices. A total of 128 male and 128 female first-year students at the University of Iceland were invited to answer an electronic questionnaire in January and early February 2021. A total of 118 students (54% men) participated in the study and valid answers were 115 (46% participation rate). Almost half of the students (44%) experienced that their food choices had worsened, while 14% reported an improvement, compared to before the pandemic. Consumption of caffeinated beverages increased for 26% of students, while 19% experienced a decrease. Just over half of the students reported not drinking alcohol (13%) or reduced consumption (41%). Participants who reported that their mental health had deteriorated or remained the same tended to spend less time on physical activity and experienced worsened food choices (p<0.05). Similarly, those who spent less or the same time on physical activity estimated that their food choices had deteriorated (p<0.05). The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lifestyles of university students and this study has revealed how lifestyle choices and mental health seem to be highly affected by one another. Additionally, the potentially harmful effects of excessive intake of energy drinks need to be enhanced. Interestingly, about 40% of the respondents in the current study drank less alcohol during the pandemic than prior to the pandemic, indicating a strong relationship between alcohol drinking and social gatherings. This study reveals the importance of educating young people on healthy lifestyle choices and the importance of mental health needs to be emphasised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Jakobsdottir
- Center of Sport and Health Sciences, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Runa Sif Stefansdottir
- Center of Sport and Health Sciences, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Sunna Gestsdottir
- Center of Sport and Health Sciences, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Vignir Stefansson
- Center of Sport and Health Sciences, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Erlingur Johannsson
- Center of Sport and Health Sciences, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
- Department of Sport, Food and Natural Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
| | - Vaka Rognvaldsdottir
- Center of Sport and Health Sciences, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Gasiorowska A, Folwarczny M, Tan LKL, Otterbring T. Delicate dining with a date and burger binging with buddies: impression management across social settings and consumers' preferences for masculine or feminine foods. Front Nutr 2023; 10:1127409. [PMID: 37396139 PMCID: PMC10311548 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1127409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Consumers often use their food choices as an impression management strategy to signal desirable aspects about themselves to others, especially in public places like restaurants and cafeterias, where the presence of others can promote certain consumption choices and preference patterns. In mating contexts, people prefer gender-typical traits and characteristics in a potential partner. Food options can also be classified according to their gender typicality, with certain alternatives perceived as feminine (e.g., salad, seafood) and with other options perceived as more masculine (e.g., steak, burger). Drawing on impression management theories from the drinking and dining domain and literature on sex differences in human mate preferences, we present a high-powered experiment investigating whether consumers' preferences for masculine or feminine foods depend on the social setting in which the food consumption takes place: dining with an attractive date (mating) or meeting and eating with friends (non-mating). Participants (N = 162, 46.9% females, 53.1% males; age M = 41.8 years, SD = 14.5) were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions (mating vs. non-mating) and were asked to indicate their food preferences for 15 dishes that differed markedly in perceived femininity/masculinity. Consistent with our theorizing, females (males) generally had a stronger preference for foods perceived as more feminine (masculine), thereby supporting the gender-typicality thesis at the aggregate level. Furthermore, females in the mating condition-but not females in the non-mating condition-reported significantly stronger preferences for more feminine food alternatives. However, in direct contrast to our theorizing, males preferred more masculine meals in the non-mating condition (i.e., when dining with friends), whereas this gender-typical tendency did not emerge in the mating condition (i.e., when dining with an attractive date). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and present a set of fruitful avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agata Gasiorowska
- Faculty of Psychology in Wroclaw, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Michał Folwarczny
- Department of Business Administration, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Lynn K. L. Tan
- School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore
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de Souza Zangirolami M, Moya Moreira TF, Leimann FV, Valderrama P, Março PH. Texture profile and short-NIR spectral vibrations relationship evaluated through Comdim: The case study for animal and vegetable proteins. Food Control 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Martinez S, Alvarez S, Martinez Marin R, Delgado MDM. Feeding children with environmentally based dietary guidelines: The Nitrogen Footprint of school lunch menus adhering to the Spanish dietary guidelines. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 848:157796. [PMID: 35931147 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
It is at an early development stage the best opportunity for a society to learn the concepts of sustainable production and consumption. Schools can serve as effective and efficient ways for this purpose. This work quantifies the Nitrogen Footprint (NF) of twelve school menus developed following the Spanish dietary guidelines. The analysis considers six fall school menus and six spring school menus for 7 to 12 years old children. Fall menus present higher NF than spring menus, being on average 23 g N and 19 g N, respectively. This is mainly due to the presence of beef dishes in fall menus, which significantly increase the production NF. Menus including non-meat protein sources, such as legumes, exhibit the lowest N pollution. Menus with beef dishes remain the most intensive menus for fall and spring in terms of N pollution and energy intake, being 0.04 g N/kcal. The highest contributing stage to the total NF is the production (92.6 %), followed by consumption (5.8 %), while the distribution and cooking stages present lower contributions. In order to improve the overall NF, some reduction strategies are: (1) substitution of beef with other animal meat sources, (2) substitution of beef with non-meat sources, (3) improvement of wastewater treatment efficiency, and (4) recycling non-edible food. Substituting beef with non-meat sources achieves the highest reduction (76 %) compared to the total NF of the school menus. It is recommendable to include environmental aspects related to N emissions within the school guidelines in order to provide practical information to policymakers and guide-users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Martinez
- Department of Land Morphology and Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; Department of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, Saint Louis University Madrid, 28003 Madrid, Spain
| | - Sergio Alvarez
- Department of Land Morphology and Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ruben Martinez Marin
- Department of Land Morphology and Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Maria Del Mar Delgado
- Department of Environment and Agronomy, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA-CSIC), 28040 Madrid, Spain
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Jolliet O. Integrating Dietary Impacts in Food Life Cycle Assessment. Front Nutr 2022; 9:898180. [PMID: 35911123 PMCID: PMC9326460 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.898180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Food production and food consumption have been too long studied separately. This paper therefore reviews progresses in assessment methods and identifies how nutrition effects on human health and environmental impacts of the entire food production and consumption can and should be consistently and systematically assessed, on a life cycle-based and a health-based perspective. Main observations include: (a) The strong activity in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a large range of agriculture production, covering beyond carbon footprint the biodiversity and health impacts of land, water, fertilizers, and pesticide use. (b) The multi-functionality of all foods and the need to compare a wide range of possible alternative including comparing serving size, meal alternatives and diets. (c) The availability of epidemiological dietary risk factors expressed in DALYs, enabling the creation of an additional LCA nutritional impact category and providing much broader flexibility in the choice of the functional unit and the kind of valid comparison LCA can address. (d) The need to use Big Data and machine learning method to better understand interactions and propose healthy and sustainable food baskets. As illustrated by the fruit yogurt example, dietary impacts on human health often dominate the life cycle impacts on human health and it is strongly recommended to consider them in the life cycle inventory and impact assessment of all commodities and foods that will eventually be consumed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Jolliet
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- *Correspondence: Olivier Jolliet,
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Grigoriadis V, Nugent A, Brereton P. Working towards a combined measure for describing environmental impact and nutritive value of foods: A review. Trends Food Sci Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2021.03.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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De Backer C, Erreygers S, De Cort C, Vandermoere F, Dhoest A, Vrinten J, Van Bauwel S. Meat and masculinities. Can differences in masculinity predict meat consumption, intentions to reduce meat and attitudes towards vegetarians? Appetite 2020; 147:104559. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2019.104559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Revised: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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