‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment
Research on the impact of school and community food environments on adolescent food choice is heavily reliant on objective rather than subjective measures of food outlets around schools and homes. Gaining the perspective of adolescents and how they perceive and use food environments is needed. The a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/4/1043 |
| _version_ | 1797540208828219392 |
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| author | Colette Kelly Mary Callaghan Saoirse Nic Gabhainn |
| author_facet | Colette Kelly Mary Callaghan Saoirse Nic Gabhainn |
| author_sort | Colette Kelly |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research on the impact of school and community food environments on adolescent food choice is heavily reliant on objective rather than subjective measures of food outlets around schools and homes. Gaining the perspective of adolescents and how they perceive and use food environments is needed. The aim of this study was to explore adolescent’s perception and use of the food environment surrounding their schools. Purposive sampling was used to recruit schools. Mapping exercises and discussion groups were facilitated with 95 adolescents from six schools. Thematic analysis showed that adolescents are not loyal to particular shops but are attracted to outlets with price discounts, those with ‘deli’ counters and sweets. Cost, convenience and choice are key factors influencing preference for food outlets and foods. Quality, variety and health were important factors for adolescents but these features, especially affordable healthy food, were hard to find. Social factors such as spending time with friends is also an important feature of food environments that deserves further attention. Adolescents’ perceptions of their food environment provide insights into features that can be manipulated to enable healthy choices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:57:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-203eb91dce0c46ebbf19c38eaef955ec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:57:47Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-203eb91dce0c46ebbf19c38eaef955ec2023-11-21T11:46:12ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432021-03-01134104310.3390/nu13041043‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food EnvironmentColette Kelly0Mary Callaghan1Saoirse Nic Gabhainn2Health Promotion Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, National University of Galway, University Road, H91 TK33 Galway, IrelandHealth Promotion Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, National University of Galway, University Road, H91 TK33 Galway, IrelandHealth Promotion Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, National University of Galway, University Road, H91 TK33 Galway, IrelandResearch on the impact of school and community food environments on adolescent food choice is heavily reliant on objective rather than subjective measures of food outlets around schools and homes. Gaining the perspective of adolescents and how they perceive and use food environments is needed. The aim of this study was to explore adolescent’s perception and use of the food environment surrounding their schools. Purposive sampling was used to recruit schools. Mapping exercises and discussion groups were facilitated with 95 adolescents from six schools. Thematic analysis showed that adolescents are not loyal to particular shops but are attracted to outlets with price discounts, those with ‘deli’ counters and sweets. Cost, convenience and choice are key factors influencing preference for food outlets and foods. Quality, variety and health were important factors for adolescents but these features, especially affordable healthy food, were hard to find. Social factors such as spending time with friends is also an important feature of food environments that deserves further attention. Adolescents’ perceptions of their food environment provide insights into features that can be manipulated to enable healthy choices.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/4/1043food environmentsadolescentqualitativeschoolsschool foodfood choice |
| spellingShingle | Colette Kelly Mary Callaghan Saoirse Nic Gabhainn ‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment Nutrients food environments adolescent qualitative schools school food food choice |
| title | ‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment |
| title_full | ‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment |
| title_fullStr | ‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment |
| title_short | ‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment |
| title_sort | it s hard to make good choices and it costs more adolescents perception of the external school food environment |
| topic | food environments adolescent qualitative schools school food food choice |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/4/1043 |
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