Browsing by Author "Maisonlahti, Victor"

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Food choice is a complex process that is influenced by both societal and cultural factors, social environment, and the properties of the food itself. Individual factors such as life situation, hereditary factors and personal preferences and values also play a part in how an individual chooses their food. Sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, and family structure have been proven to have an influence on what individuals consider important when making food choices. The aim of this thesis was to study the impact family structure has on attitudes towards food choice. A secondary goal was to study the effect of the age of parents on same food choice attitudes. Attitudes towards food choice were examined from five perspectives: price, natural content, hedonism, weight control, and ethical concern. The study was conducted using quantitative research methods. The underlying data used was collected by Helsingin Sanomat in March of 2020 through a food choice -survey. The survey was answered by 22 951 participants of which 22 203 were used in the final analysis. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and two-way ANOVA were applied as statistical methods. The results indicate differences between different family structures, and between parents belonging to different age groups on nearly all dimensions of food choice. Respondents who lived alone, and younger parents considered the affordability of food more important than other groups. Nuclear families differed from all other family structures and considered the natural content of food more important than respondents belonging to other family structures when making food choices. Nuclear families also considered ethical concerns less important than other families. No significant differences were found on the importance of ethical concerns between parents of different ages. Nuclear families and older parents considered enjoyment of food less important than other family structures and age groups when making food choices. No significant differences were found between different family structures when studying the importance of weight control, however older parents deemed weight control more important than their younger counterparts. While the results of this study cannot be applied to a wider population because of homogeneity of the sample, it provides a base for future research on what different family structures, and parents of differing age consider important when making food choices.