Food Choices in Australia Today Consumers in Essay

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Food Choices in Australia Today

Consumers in many developed nations are experiencing a veritable epidemic of obesity, a trend that has been exacerbated both by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle as well as the types of foods that are consumed. Fast food and high fat content have also contributed to these trends, and the healthcare costs associated with treating obesity are enormous. Furthermore, unhealthy food choices during the formative years in early childhood can also result in a lifetime of weight-related problems, making the need to identify factors that influence food choices in a given setting a timely and important enterprise. To this end, this paper provides a discussion concerning three of the most important factors that have been identified by researchers as potentially influencing food choices in Australia households, which are food availability, individual preferences for flavor and taste and, increasingly, the environmentally responsible manner in which foods are produced. A summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Given the prevalence of obesity among Australians today, there is a corresponding need for an improved understanding of the determinants that affect food choice (Bellisle, 2012). Some of the more salient factors that have been shown to influence food choices include its availability, convenience, price, and individual preferences for flavor and taste (Neumark-Sztainer, Story, Perry & Casey, 1999). With respect to convenience, recent research has shown that this factor is particularly relevant to single parents in Australia today (Craig, 2005). In addition, other factors that are less easily quantified but which are felt by virtually everyone include the immediate desire or craving for specific food or foods, a factor that is further accentuated by the degree of hunger that is involved. There also appears to be a perplexing but commonplace phenomenon in which many people have mixed feelings about the foods they want the most based on a complex cost-benefit analysis that is unique to the individual consumer.

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In this regard, Bellisle (2012) reports that, "Interestingly, it appears that the influence of food on mood is related in part to attitudes towards particular foods. The ambivalent relationship with food -- wanting to enjoy it but conscious of weight gain is a struggle experienced by many. Dieters, people with high restraint and some women report feeling guilty because of not eating what they think they should" (para. 5). Furthermore, when people try to restrict their consumption of certain foods, it can have a concomitant effect of increasing their desire for them, resulting in what is termed food cravings (Bellisle, 2012). This point is also made by Neumark-Sztainer and her associates who report that immediate hunger and food cravings can affect food choice, as well as the impact that parental influence can have on eating behaviors, influences that include the specific culture or religion of the foods consumed in the individual family setting (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 1999).

Other researchers have identified factors such as the nutritional content and health benefits of foods as being important factors in food choice as well (Grainger, Senauer & Runge, 2007). At the same time, researchers have determined that many Australian consumers are highly dubious about the nutritional claims made concerning the food products that are available to them, with at least one third being uncertain as to whether they could trust them (Jones, Tapsell, Andrews, Williams & Gregory, 2009). In addition, there is a growing consensus that more Australian consumers trust sources such as independent third-parties or nonprofit organizations compared to industry-supplied information (Jones et al., 2009). In this regard, Staley (2006) reports that, "Organisations such as the Australian Consumers' Association (ACA) regularly test foods and report on whether the foods are what they say they are on the label" (p. 38). In recent years, there has also been an increasing tendency on the part of consumers to choose foods that are produced using environmentally responsible methods (Lyons,.....

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