Emily J. Kothe and Barbara Mullan
A number of interventions aimed at increasing breakfast consumption have been designed and implemented in recent years. This paper seeks to review the current research in this…
Abstract
Purpose
A number of interventions aimed at increasing breakfast consumption have been designed and implemented in recent years. This paper seeks to review the current research in this area with the aim of identifying common features of successful interventions and strengths and weaknesses in the current research methodology.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of interventions aimed at increasing breakfast‐eating frequency in a non‐clinical sample was conducted.
Findings
A total of 11 interventions were identified and reviewed; of these, only three resulted in an increase in breakfast consumption at follow‐up. The three studies that were successful in changing breakfast consumption all included a psychosocial component that was successful in increasing positive attitudes towards nutrition in the intervention protocol. Many of the breakfast‐eating interventions included in this review have methodological weaknesses, including difficulties in implementing interventions, small sample sizes, and selection biases, which future researchers should consider when designing and evaluating their own interventions.
Research limitations/implications
These findings highlight the importance of including psychosocial components in interventions designed to increase breakfast consumption, while also signalling issues that should be addressed when designing and reporting future interventions.
Originality/value
This review was the first to investigate the efficacy of interventions aimed at increasing breakfast consumption. The identification of weaknesses in the current body of research, and of successful and unsuccessful intervention practices is an important step in developing successful interventions in the future.
Details
Keywords
Toby Bartle, Barbara Mullan, Elizaveta Novoradovskaya, Vanessa Allom and Penelope Hasking
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of choice on the development and maintenance of a fruit consumption behaviour and if behaviour change was underpinned by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of choice on the development and maintenance of a fruit consumption behaviour and if behaviour change was underpinned by habit strength.
Design/methodology/approach
A 2×2×3 mixed model experimental design was used. The independent variables were pictorial cue and fruit consumption manipulated on two levels: choice and no choice, across three-time points: baseline, post-intervention (after two weeks) and follow-up (one week later). Participants (n=166) completed demographics, the self-report habit index and fruit intake at all three-time points.
Findings
All participants showed significant increases in fruit consumption and habit strength at post-intervention and follow-up. However, participants provided neither choice of cue nor fruit showed a significant decrease in consumption at follow-up.
Practical implications
Fruit consumption can be significantly increased with a relatively simple intervention; choice seems to have an effect on behaviour maintenance, providing no choice negatively effects behaviour maintenance post-intervention. This may inform future interventions designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.
Originality/value
The intervention that the authors designed and implemented in the current study is the first of its kind, where choice was manipulated in two different ways and behaviour was changed with a simple environmental cue intervention.
Details
Keywords
Barbara Mullan, Cara Wong, Emily Kothe and Carolyn Maccann
Breakfast consumption is associated with a range of beneficial health outcomes including improved overall diet quality, lower BMI, decreased risk of chronic disease, and improved…
Abstract
Purpose
Breakfast consumption is associated with a range of beneficial health outcomes including improved overall diet quality, lower BMI, decreased risk of chronic disease, and improved cognitive function. Although there are many models of health and social behaviour, there is a paucity of research utilising these in breakfast consumption and very few studies that directly compare these models. This study aims to compare the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the health action process approach (HAPA) in predicting breakfast consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
University students (N=102; M=19.5 years) completed a questionnaire measuring demographics, TPB and HAPA motivational variables, and intentions. Behaviour and HAPA volitional variables were measured four weeks later.
Findings
Using structural equation modelling, it was found that the TPB model was a superior fit to the data across a range of model indices compared to the HAPA. Both models significantly predicted both intentions and behaviour at follow up; however, the TPB predicted a higher proportion of the variance in breakfast consumption (47.6 per cent) than the HAPA (44.8 per cent). Further, the volitional variables did not mediate the intention-behaviour gap, and the data were not an adequate statistical fit to the model compared to the TPB.
Research limitations/implications
The results support the use of the TPB and show that some aspects of the HAPA are useful in predicting breakfast consumption, suggesting that risk perception and self-efficacy be targeted in interventions to increase behaviour. The volitional variables did not appear to mediate breakfast consumption indicating that intention is still the strongest predictor, at least in this behaviour.
Originality/value
The current study is the first to compare the TPB and HAPA in predicting breakfast consumption.
Details
Keywords
Barbara Mullan, Cara Wong, Jemma Todd, Esther Davis and Emily Jane Kothe
The purpose of this paper is to utilise the comprehensive Food Safety Knowledge Instrument to compare food hygiene knowledge across a population of high school and university…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to utilise the comprehensive Food Safety Knowledge Instrument to compare food hygiene knowledge across a population of high school and university students in Australia and the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 475 students from secondary schools and universities in Australia and the UK took part in a survey, which included a Food Safety Knowledge Instrument and demographic items.
Findings
Food safety knowledge was generally very low. High school students had a mean score of only 38 per cent, while university students just reached a “pass” with a mean of 54 per cent. Demographics accounted for 41 per cent of variance in food knowledge scores. Female gender, being at university rather than high school, and living out of home rather than with parents were associated with greater food knowledge. Residing in Australia rather than the UK and being older were also associated with greater knowledge; however, these findings were subsumed by education group. Socio-economic status was not a significant predictor of food knowledge.
Practical implications
Identifying demographic and cultural differences in food knowledge can help to identify at-risk populations to better target in theory and knowledge-based interventions.
Originality/value
This study is the first to apply the knowledge instrument in an Australian population. Understanding the baseline knowledge in this population is an important first step at developing effective interventions for food safety.
Details
Keywords
Mekhraly Shakhbazov and Ahmed Badreldin
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether ethnic discrimination is present in the Russian labor market and whether it has a significant economic effect on the potential…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether ethnic discrimination is present in the Russian labor market and whether it has a significant economic effect on the potential salaries of applicants.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a correspondence audit for four experimental male applicants with identical professional and personal characteristics while differing only in applicant name as a signal of applicants' ethnic background. Implied ethnicities include Russians, Armenians, Jews and North Caucasians. Résumés were sent out to 800 real unique vacancies on behalf of the experimental applicants with a geographic focus on the capital Moscow.
Findings
The results of the analysis suggest that there is a significant difference in treatment in both response rate and potential average salaries on ethnic grounds. Disadvantaged groups were found to be systematically pushed into jobs paying 15% less monthly wage.
Originality/value
The study investigates the existence of ethnic discrimination in the Russian labor market and furthermore economically quantifies the effects of discrimination.