Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, MSC 3470, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30003, Las Cruces, NM, 88003-8003, United States.
Appetite. 2018 Nov 1;130:268-273. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.08.025. Epub 2018 Aug 22.
Obesity is a major public health concern in the United States. From the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, the reduction in the amount of time individuals spent preparing food coincided with changes in the food environment. This led to increased consumption of energy and contributed to the dramatic rise in obesity rates over the same period. Research and policy aimed at improving American diets has largely focused on ensuring that healthy foods are accessible and affordable. Although these are important determinants of food choice, time constraints also factors into purchasing decisions.
To examine the relationship between time constraints, both perceived and objective, and the quality of Americans' food purchases by income level.
USDA's National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey was used to examine the relationship between time constraints (objective and perceived) and HEI-2010 score of food purchases and examines this relationship by income. It estimates an econometric model that controls for other factors that influence time resources and food choice.
The relationship between the perceived time constraint and estimated HEI score of food purchases varied by income level, though the relationship was only significant for higher-income households, or those between 400% and 600% of the poverty line. There was no significant relationship between the objective time constraint and HEI score of food purchases.
Nutrition education and interventions aimed at improving household food purchasing decisions may benefit from focusing on improving time management skills and emphasizing healthier convenience food substitutions when consumers feel time-constrained. Higher-income consumers eat out more frequently than lower-income consumers, so menu labeling aimed at nudging higher-income individuals to purchase healthier options could help improve food choice in these settings.
肥胖是美国的一个主要公共卫生问题。从 20 世纪 70 年代末到 90 年代中期，个人准备食物的时间减少与食品环境的变化同时发生。这导致能量消耗增加，并导致同期肥胖率的急剧上升。旨在改善美国人饮食的研究和政策主要集中在确保健康食品的可及性和可负担性上。尽管这些是食物选择的重要决定因素，但时间限制也是购买决策的因素之一。
研究时间限制（感知和客观）与收入水平之间美国人食品购买质量的关系。
使用 USDA 的国家家庭食品获取和购买调查来研究时间限制（客观和感知）与 HEI-2010 得分之间的关系，并按收入水平检查这种关系。它估计了一个计量经济学模型，该模型控制了其他影响时间资源和食物选择的因素。
感知到的时间限制与食物购买的估计 HEI 得分之间的关系因收入水平而异，尽管这种关系仅对高收入家庭（或收入为贫困线的 400%至 600%之间的家庭）显著。客观时间限制与食物购买的 HEI 得分之间没有显著关系。
旨在改善家庭食品购买决策的营养教育和干预措施可能受益于专注于改善时间管理技能，并在消费者感到时间受限时强调更健康的方便食品替代品。高收入消费者比低收入消费者更频繁外出就餐，因此针对高收入人群的菜单标签旨在促使他们购买更健康的选择，可能有助于改善这些环境中的食物选择。
