Wopereis Tamika M, Roman Kirsten J, Djojosoeparto Sanne K, Poelman Maartje P
Department of Social Sciences, Chair Group Consumption & Healthy Lifestyles, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706 KN, the Netherlands.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Apr 23;25(1):1496. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22619-1.
(Commercial) food cues in outdoor public spaces are environmental drivers of unhealthy diets. This study aimed to explore residents' perceptions of food cues in outdoor public spaces in relation to their perceived food environment, eating behaviour, and their opinion on governmental outdoor food cue regulations.
A photovoice study, consisting of a photography assignment followed by semi-structured interviews, was conducted among 15 adult residents of the municipality of Wageningen, the Netherlands. Participants had one week to take photographs of outdoor food cues they encountered in their municipality, using a mobile app "myfoodenvironment", that were central to the interview afterwards.
Participants mainly noticed unhealthy food cues, which they viewed as constant 'reminders' that unhealthy food was easily accessible and affordable. Their views varied on the extent to which food cues affected their own eating behaviour, but generally believed that food cues affected that of others. Participants identified several factors that amplify outdoor food cues' influence on eating behaviour, including hunger, fatigue and attractiveness of the cues. The findings revealed support for government regulation of food cues, while acknowledging the complexity of this issue and the diverse perspectives on how such regulations should be designed (e.g., where, for whom), with one notable counterargument being concerns about feeling patronized by such policies.
Current findings may inform health professionals and (local) policy makers about the unhealthy food cues encountered by residents in outdoor public spaces, which unconsciously influence their eating behaviour, while also providing insights into designing food cue regulations that attract policy support by balancing public health goals with considerations of consumer autonomy and citizen preferences.
户外公共场所的（商业）食品提示是不健康饮食的环境驱动因素。本研究旨在探讨居民对户外公共场所食品提示的看法，及其对感知到的食品环境、饮食行为的影响，以及他们对政府户外食品提示法规的意见。
在荷兰瓦赫宁根市的15名成年居民中开展了一项摄影声音研究，包括一项摄影任务，随后进行半结构化访谈。参与者有一周时间，使用移动应用程序“myfoodenvironment”拍摄他们在该市遇到的户外食品提示，这些提示将是后续访谈的核心内容。
参与者主要注意到不健康的食品提示，他们将其视为不健康食品易于获取且价格实惠的持续“提醒”。他们对食品提示在多大程度上影响自己的饮食行为看法不一，但普遍认为食品提示会影响他人的饮食行为。参与者确定了几个放大户外食品提示对饮食行为影响的因素，包括饥饿、疲劳和提示的吸引力。研究结果显示了对政府对食品提示进行监管的支持，同时也认识到这个问题的复杂性以及对于此类法规应如何设计（例如，在哪里、针对谁）的不同观点，一个值得注意的反对观点是担心此类政策会让人有受 patronized 的感觉。
当前的研究结果可为卫生专业人员和（地方）政策制定者提供信息，让他们了解居民在户外公共场所遇到的不健康食品提示，这些提示会无意识地影响他们的饮食行为，同时也为设计食品提示法规提供见解，通过平衡公共卫生目标与消费者自主性和公民偏好的考虑来获得政策支持。
