Browsing by Author "Marigold, Venla"

Background: Different protein sources can have a major impact on not only our health, but also on the environment. We also know that dietary habits learned in early childhood often carry into adulthood. A novel way to examine dietary and purchase behaviour is using loyalty card data. This thesis utilises loyalty card complied by the LoCard research group from Finland’s largest grocery chain (S-group) in assessing the protein source purchases made by Finnish families with children in 2018. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine what protein sources Finnish families with chil- dren purchase, and to assess whether relationships exist between different sociodemographic factors and protein source purchases, as well as the amount of money used on food purchases overall in 2018. Methods: This study utilised data from the LoCard data set which included food purchase data, as well as information on sociodemographic factors obtained from a background questionnaire. Inclusion criteria stated that self-assessed loyalty score (to S-group stores) had to be >60% to be included into this study, and the main study population could only include families with at least 1 child under 7-years of age. Overall, 7807 participants’ purchase data was received from LoCard, with 3904 being households with young children, and 3903 being control households. The statistical analysis methods utilised in this thesis study included linear regression analyses, as well as the independent samples Mann-Whitney U-test and chi-squared test. Results: Statistically significant findings included the following; Finnish families with small children had a larger share of their total protein purchases coming from dairy (30.4% of total protein), red meat (16.9%), and infant formula (0.3%), but less from plant-based protein sources (2%) compared to the control group (2.5%). In terms of sociodemographic factors, increase in household size, age and being employed were associated with increased proportion of protein from red meat purchases. Increase in educational level was associated with less protein from red meat purchases. For poultry, increase in age was associated with decreased protein from purchases. For plant-based protein sources, having an undergraduate degree or higher level of education, as well as being unemployed were associated with increased proportion of protein from purchases. Being in the highest income category and increase in age and household size were associated with decreased protein from plant-based protein source purchases. For protein coming from fish, increase in income category as well as age and having a graduate degree were associated with increased proportion of protein. Increase in household size and being employed were associated with decreased protein proportions. In terms of the money used on all food purchases, families with small children spent less money, as well as those with graduate degrees. Increase in income category, as well as in age and household size were associated with more money spent on food purchases. Conclusions: The main protein sources purchased by Finnish families with small children were dairy and red meat. Fish and plant-based protein source purchases were relatively low. Existing research is well in line with the findings of this thesis. More work needs to be done to shift diets of families with small children to adhere to the dietary guidelines more closely. Future LoCard research should include specific ages of other household members in the background questionnaire, as well as work on acquiring purchase data from other grocery chains.