Abstract
Young adults are living in an era where nutritional and health knowledge is more accessible and advanced than ever before. However, young adults’ diets are still a concern. The PhD research reported on in this paper aims to suggest behavioural interventions that can align young adults’ individual dietary needs and their long-term goals of eating healthily. Using the methods of diary study, semi-structured interviews and card sorting, this research investigated young adults’ perceptions of their dietary behaviours and experiences of prior interventions, to understand the gap between their ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ in terms of healthy eating. The findings indicated that ‘physical health’ is not a strong enough motivation for young adults to change and that young adults valued social attributes and emotional experiences built into cooking and eating. The paper concludes with possible behavioural interventions, based on the research, which may better align individual needs with long-term goals.
Keywords
behaviour change; diet; health and wellbeing; young adults
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.371
Citation
Ji, T., Lilley, D., and Haycraft, E. (2024) Health-Promotion Information Is Not Effective: General Goals of Health and Wellbeing Conflict with Young Adults’ Instant Needs in Cooking and Food Choices, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.371
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Research Paper
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Health-Promotion Information Is Not Effective: General Goals of Health and Wellbeing Conflict with Young Adults’ Instant Needs in Cooking and Food Choices
Young adults are living in an era where nutritional and health knowledge is more accessible and advanced than ever before. However, young adults’ diets are still a concern. The PhD research reported on in this paper aims to suggest behavioural interventions that can align young adults’ individual dietary needs and their long-term goals of eating healthily. Using the methods of diary study, semi-structured interviews and card sorting, this research investigated young adults’ perceptions of their dietary behaviours and experiences of prior interventions, to understand the gap between their ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ in terms of healthy eating. The findings indicated that ‘physical health’ is not a strong enough motivation for young adults to change and that young adults valued social attributes and emotional experiences built into cooking and eating. The paper concludes with possible behavioural interventions, based on the research, which may better align individual needs with long-term goals.