Literature Review

APP BUS RESEARCH QUALITATIVE

SYED ALI SABOOR ZAIDI (18487)
LITERATURE MAP

Subjective Definition of Ambiguity about the

Healthy Food healthyness of meal

Healthy food in polluted

Food Safety Concern
environment

Chronical Diseases Ristricted Diets

Factors Effecting
Millennial’s Orientation
Towards Healthy food
Different profession
Professions requires to have certain
type of diet

On the go Food is
realtively cheaper
Price
compared to healthy
food

Busy Lifestyle, Time is

Time Scarcity
Money

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 FACTORS EFFECTING
MILLENNIAL’S
ORIENTATION TOWARDS
HEALTHY FOOD

Introduction
In 2016, Rappange, Brouwer and Excel described the effect of individual’s expectation about
his/her length of life and future health on his/her decision related to healthy food. If a person has
given a taught to how s/he will get old and how old s/he will get, it will influence the way s/he
takes care of her/himself and decisions s/he makes about the life [CITATION Dav16 \l 1033 ] .
Healthy lifestyle or healthy diet is even though depends on personal choice and taste, is
influenced by the culture and society one lives in [ CITATION Wil05 \l 1033 ].

The choice of living a healthy life and having healthy food relied on various drivers, price and
time scarcity are among them [ CITATION Dim14 \l 1033 ]. The goal of this literature review is to
unfold the factors which drives the people especially Millennials to opt for the healthy lifestyle
and healthier food options.

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 Literature Review
Volatile Definition of Healthy Food
What is healthy food? The answer to this question is ambiguous. Within his article on perception
of healthy eating Marie Claude Paquette [CITATION Paq05 \n \t \l 1033 ] discusses how evolution of
the nutritional science has made the definition of healthy food much more complex and varied.
In order to label one as healthy food people now takes into account the composition of the
ingredient and their nutritional fact from diverse sources such as Televisions and Magazines. As
these nutritional fact are listed by the different source in their own unique way, people later have
to assign value to this information and adopt in meaningful way depending on their own
understandings [ CITATION Paq05 \l 1033 ].

Food Safety Concerns

During a study conducted by PUFALL, et al. [CITATION PUF11 \n \t \l 1033 ] where two different
focus group consisting of adult Inuit residents of Nain, Canda were conducted, it was discovered
that when deciding what is healthy and what would be injurious to health, people looks at the
origin of that item i.e. where it was produced or grown. Even though people consider items such
as naturally grown/extracted/hunted as healthy, they still think twice when opting for it because
of the safety concerns associated with the process of its extraction. People in some circumstances
prefer to have second grade less healthy food over the country grown fresh and healthy food
because of its exposure to various viruses originated from dumping sites and pollution in the area
it is grown [ CITATION PUF11 \l 1033 ].

In response to the survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation, 45% of adults
claimed to be very cautious about the use of pesticides for growing crop and about 35% shows
moderate tendency [ CITATION Fin92 \l 1033 ]

Chronical Diseases
Within his research [CITATION Ric95 \n \t \l 1033 ] Richard G. Rogers, while discussing the socio-
demographics of long lived and healthy people, narrated that chronical diseases such as Diabetes
and some heart related disease, becomes the motivation for having carefully selected healthy
diet. Since the failure to have the restricted healthy diet will result in the fetal consequences these

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chronical diseases limits the choice available for the individual, forcing them stick with the
prescribed diet providing them all the necessary nutrition [ CITATION Ric95 \l 1033 ].

However, improper or unhealthy diets are resulting in chronical disease too, such as obesity, high
blood pressures and other heart related diseases such as stoke, thus influencing the food choice of
people [ CITATION Sci16 \l 1033 ].

Nature of the Profession

Since every job is somewhat different in nature and every profession demand certain type of
physiques and characteristics, in order to match that requirement professionals, have to follow
certain meal plan [ CITATION Cai15 \l 1033 ]. Further in their study [CITATION Cai15 \n \t \l 1033 ],
Cairns and Johnston discussed how the post-feminism inclined women towards the “do-diet” and
influenced their food choices.

Food Prices
Most commonly found influencer when deciding between healthy food and high calories
processed food is the price. The prices of processed rich in calories food items are usually lower
when compared to prices of healthy fresh food items such as fresh fruits and vegetables which
are continuously rising. This price differential generally limits the choices of the millennial with
limited disposable income to cheaper less healthy processed food [ CITATION Dim14 \l 1033 ]. In
another research [ CITATION Mor14 \l 1033 ], which approximately 35000 women in UK via Food
Frequency Questionnaire resulted in positive relation between prices and healthy food. The more
the healthier the food, the higher the price [CITATION Mor14 \n \t \l 1033 ].

Time Scarcity & Modern Regulation

In today’s fast paced, busiest life, time is money, Millennial usually cash on time and look for
less time-consuming alternative for task which are nonproductive in term of revenue. Since,
preparation of the healthier meals is usually time-consuming compared to the easily available, on
the go food such as burgers and sandwiches, people opt for the later [ CITATION Dim14 \l 1033 ].

In another study [ CITATION Sci16 \l 1033 ] it was discussed how the modern regulatory policies
such as lengthy procedure for farming permits in different states of US, has made access to
healthy food difficult rather than easing it, encouraging the use/availability of junk foods.

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In contradiction to the above mentioned research, the study [ CITATION CUM05 \l 1033 ] discus how
British Government has intervened in the Food System and insured the regular availability of
healthy affordable food in cities especially marked as ‘food desert’.

Conclusion
From the reading of the various different research articles, evidences found in them and
discussed it can be concluded that there can be various different factors influencing the
orientation of a millennial toward healthy food. What s/he consumes and willing to consume can
be the outcome of various different factors ranging from time to profession playing the role of
influencing factor behind the scene.

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 References
Cairns, K., & Johnston, J. (2015, March). Choosing health: embodied neoliberalism, postfeminism, and the
"do-diet". Theory and Society, 44, 153-175. Retrieved Feb 16, 2020, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43694753

CUMMINS, S., FINDLAY, A., PETTICREW, M., & SPARKS, L. (2005). Healthy Cities: The Impact of Food Retail-led
Regeneration on Food Access, Choice and Retail Structure. Built Environment (1978-), 31, 288-301.
Retrieved Feb 17, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/23289534

Dimitri, C., & Rogus, S. (2014). FOOD CHOICES, FOOD SECURITY, AND FOOD POLICY. Journal of International
Affairs, 6, 19-31. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24461733

Finn, A., & Louviere, J. J. (1992). Determining the Appropriate Response to Evidence of Public Concern: The
Case of Food. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 11, 12-25. Retrieved Feb 17, 2020, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/30000270

Morris, M. A., Hulme, C., Clarke, G. P., Edwards, K. L., & Cade, J. E. (2014, November ). What is the cost of a
healthy diet? Using diet data from the UK Women's Cohort Study. Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health (1979-), 68, 1043-1049. Retrieved Feb 17, 2020, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43281990

Paquette, M.-C. (2005). Perceptions of Healthy Eating: State of Knowledge and Research Gaps. Canadian
Journal of Public Health, 96, S15-S19. Retrieved Feb 16, 2020, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41994467

PUFALL, E. L., JONES, A. Q., McEWEN, S. A., LYALL, C., PEREGRINE, A. S., & EDGE, V. L. (2011, June). Perception
of the Importance of Traditional Country Foods to the Physical, Mental, andSpiritual Health of
Labrador Inuit. Arctic, 64, 242-250. Retrieved Feb 16, 2020, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23025697

Rappange, D. R., Brouwer, W. B., & Exel, J. v. (2016, June). A long life in good health: subjective expectations
regarding length and future health-related quality of life. The European Journal of Health Economics,
17, 577-589. Retrieved February 16 , 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24774181

Rogers, R. G. (1995, March). Sociodemographic Characteristics of Long-Lived and Healthy Individuals.

Population and Development Review, 21, 33-58. Retrieved Feb 16, 2020, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2137412

Scientists, U. o. (2016). Fixing Food Fresh Solutions from Five U.S. Cities. Union of Concerned Scientists.
Retrieved Feb 17, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17255

Willows, N. D. (2005, July/August ). Determinants of Healthy Eating in Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: The
Current State ofKnowledge and Research Gaps. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96, S32-S36.
Retrieved Feb 16, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41994470

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