Gustafson Christopher R
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.
Front Nutr. 2022 Jul 7;9:926643. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.926643. eCollection 2022.
Many choices that people face daily have implications for future health and well-being. Choices about what foods to purchase and consume are one of the most frequent-and universal choices-that people must make. The ongoing rise of overweight and obesity rates-and associated diet-related diseases-in the US and many other countries illustrates the future health consequences of low-quality dietary choices. While a large body of research shows that individuals with a tendency to consider the future make a wide range of healthier decisions, research on limited attention and exogenous factors influencing choice suggests that attention to the future consequences of choices may vary from one choice scenario to the next. In this research, we examine the impact of active consideration of future health impacts during a hypothetical online food choice experiment on the nutritional quality of food choices and on choice process variables-the set of products people choose to select from and the use of nutrition information during choice-during an online food choice task. Next, we examine the impact of exposure to a short message about the health benefits of fiber on consideration of future health impacts and on the nutritional quality of choices. We find that active consideration of future health impacts significantly improves the nutritional quality of choices-particularly among processed food products-and makes people more likely to pay attention to healthy foods and use nutrition information. Exposure to a short health message significantly increases the likelihood that individuals consider future health impacts during choice, which promotes healthier choices overall.
人们日常面临的许多选择都会对未来的健康和幸福产生影响。关于购买和食用何种食物的选择是人们必须做出的最常见且普遍的选择之一。美国和许多其他国家超重和肥胖率以及相关饮食相关疾病的持续上升，说明了低质量饮食选择对未来健康的影响。虽然大量研究表明，倾向于考虑未来的个体往往会做出更广泛的健康决策，但关于有限注意力和影响选择的外部因素的研究表明，对选择未来后果的关注可能因选择情境而异。在本研究中，我们在一个虚拟的在线食物选择实验中，考察了积极考虑未来健康影响对食物选择的营养质量以及选择过程变量（即人们选择从中挑选的产品集以及选择过程中对营养信息的使用）在在线食物选择任务中的影响。接下来，我们考察了接触一条关于纤维健康益处的简短信息对考虑未来健康影响以及选择的营养质量的影响。我们发现，积极考虑未来健康影响能显著提高选择的营养质量——尤其是在加工食品中——并使人们更有可能关注健康食品并使用营养信息。接触一条简短的健康信息会显著增加个体在选择过程中考虑未来健康影响的可能性，从而总体上促进更健康的选择。
