Wopereis Tamika M, Djojosoeparto Sanne K, Rongen Frédérique C, Peeters Sanne C, de Vet Emely, Poelman Maartje P
Department of Social Sciences, Chair Group Consumption & Healthy Lifestyles, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706KN, the Netherlands.
Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, University College Tilburg, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
BMC Med. 2024 Dec 31;22(1):602. doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03818-w.
Unhealthy visual food cues in outdoor public spaces are external drivers of unhealthy diets. Food cues are visible situations associated with food-related memories. This study aimed to gain insight into the (un)healthy food cues residents notice in outdoor public spaces in Dutch municipalities. It also aimed to explore residents' perceptions of food cues' influence on eating behaviour to gain insight into the acceptability of food cues and support for governmental food cue regulation.
An exploratory study was conducted among 101 adults who photographed outdoor visual food cues in their municipality and answered survey questions about the food cues using a bespoke app ('myfoodenvironment'). Participant and food cue characteristics were analysed. Associations between those characteristics, perceived influence on eating behaviour, acceptability of food cues and support for regulation were analysed.
Participants took 461 photographs of food cues. Most food cues visualised food (73.8%), 54.4% of which showed only unhealthy food. Food cues photographed by participants with a high level of education and those located near a food service outlet were more often perceived as stimulating others to eat compared to those photographed by participants with a middle education level and located near a food store or along the road (Fisher's exact test: p < 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). For most photographs, participants found the presence of food cues acceptable and were opposed to governmental cue regulation. However, when food cues visualised healthy food, they were more likely to be found acceptable than when visualising unhealthy food (χ (4; N = 333) = 16.955; p = 0.002). Besides, when food cues visualised unhealthy food, participants were less likely to oppose governmental regulation of those types of cues, than when visualising healthy food (Fisher's exact test: p = 0.002).
Unhealthy food cues in outdoor public spaces were predominantly photographed by the participants. Yet, for most photographs, participants found the food cues acceptable and opposed governmental food cue regulation, although acceptance was higher for healthy food cues and opposition was lower for unhealthy food cues. These findings can serve as input for policymakers to develop governmental food cue regulations that may gain public support.
户外公共场所中不健康的视觉食物线索是不健康饮食的外部驱动因素。食物线索是与食物相关记忆相关的可见情境。本研究旨在深入了解荷兰各市镇居民在户外公共场所注意到的（不）健康食物线索。它还旨在探索居民对食物线索对饮食行为影响的看法，以深入了解食物线索的可接受性以及对政府食物线索监管的支持情况。
对101名成年人进行了一项探索性研究，他们拍摄了所在市镇的户外视觉食物线索，并使用定制应用程序（“我的食物环境”）回答了有关食物线索的调查问题。分析了参与者和食物线索的特征。分析了这些特征、对饮食行为的感知影响、食物线索的可接受性以及对监管的支持之间的关联。
参与者拍摄了461张食物线索照片。大多数食物线索展示的是食物（73.8%），其中54.4%仅展示不健康食物。与中等教育水平且位于食品店附近或路边的参与者拍摄的食物线索相比，受过高等教育的参与者以及位于食品服务场所附近的参与者拍摄的食物线索更常被认为会刺激他人进食（费舍尔精确检验：分别为p < 0.001和p = 0.001）。对于大多数照片，参与者认为食物线索的存在是可以接受的，并且反对政府的线索监管。然而，当食物线索展示健康食物时，与展示不健康食物相比，它们更有可能被认为是可以接受的（χ(4; N = 333) = 16.955; p = 0.002）。此外，当食物线索展示不健康食物时，与展示健康食物相比，参与者反对政府对这类线索进行监管的可能性较小（费舍尔精确检验：p = 0.002）。
户外公共场所的不健康食物线索主要被参与者拍摄下来。然而，对于大多数照片，参与者认为食物线索是可以接受的，并反对政府的食物线索监管，尽管对健康食物线索的接受度更高，对不健康食物线索的反对度更低。这些发现可为政策制定者制定可能获得公众支持的政府食物线索监管措施提供参考。
