Why Do Australians Eat Too Few Vegetables - Research Proposal Example

Why do Australians eat too few Vegetables? Name: Institution: Date: Why do Australians eat too few Vegetables? Introduction It is fundamentally important to look at the reasons that Australians avoid eating vegetables. Poor dietary choices cause ill health that cost government billions of dollars in the health budget. A healthy population is important for building a robust Australian economy. Anything that impacts on the health of the citizens is worth investigating. Chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular and some cancers are main causes of death as well as disability in Australia and their presence is persistently increasing. The burden of the disease owing to poor diet is usually linked to huge intakes of energy dense-foods having high saturated sugar, salt or fat content, and rare intake of nutrient dense-foods like whole grains, fruit, and vegetables (AIHW, 2012). Excess intake of energy giving foods coupled with limited physical activity has contributed to rising cases of obesity in Australia. This is one of the huge challenges in public health facing Australia. Obesity lays a foundation for ill-health manifested in the chronic diseases prevalence. It is therefore paramount to find out why Australians do not like eating vegetables. The amount of information on nutrition that Australians are presented with daily is overwhelming. Nutritional gurus with every kind of background provide advice that sometimes is contrary to core dietary guidelines, blogs, and food marketing with all kinds of opinions flaunted as facts, more often than not confuse than inform. The entire field of health and nutrition can be scaled down to simple basics that are easy to grasp. A diet that comprises of unprocessed plant foods and has low sugar and highly processed foods consistently beat all other advice in providing best long-term health. Close to 92% of adult Australians do not eat enough vegetables and only close to 49% eat enough fruit (Abraham, Norman, Conner, 2013). Few Australians adhere to a dietary pattern that is close to what is regarded as an optimal health dietary pattern. In this research the health belief model has been adopted to explain the behavior of Australians having low amount of vegetables in their diet. The health belief model came into being in 1950s why social psychologist tried to explain why some individuals do not consider important health services like screening and immunization (Pitts, & Phillips, 1998). The model has four main constructs. The first two constructs represent a specific disease while the following two constructs refer to the likely course of action that can reduce the risk or the disease severity. Perceived vulnerability or perceived susceptibility is the perceived risk of the individual of contracting the disease if he persists with the prevailing course of action. Perceived severity describes the disease’ seriousness and the accompanying consequences as the individual perceive (Fiske, Gilbert & Lindzey, 2010). Perceived benefits is the perceived advantages of the course of action including the level at which it reduces the disease’ risk or the consequences’ severity. Perceived barriers describe the perceived disadvantages of taking up the recommended action and the perceived obstacles that hinder or prevent its performance successfully. The factors are usually assumed to combine to influence the possibility of performing the behavior. Consequently, high severity, high susceptibility, high benefits as well as low barriers lead to high likelihood of adoption of the recommended action. Australians do not take the eating of vegetables in their diets seriously until they are caught up in medical condition that the doctor encourages them to include more vegetables in their diets. The risk of obesity and falling victim of other chronic diseases compel some Australians to include vegetables in their diets (Harari & Legge, 2001). When individuals witness a close relative or a friend confronted with a health condition that would have been prevented through high degree intake of vegetables, they start taking advice on inclusion of vegetables in their diets seriously. Preparation of vegetables may look tedious to many Australians who prefer processed foods and junk foods due to limited time. Research aim The aim of these research is to found out why Australian male students aged 20-25 do not consume enough vegetables Method The interviews were conducted through an online survey on Facebook. The profile of the ten selected male students was reviewed using the college portal on social media. An oral interview through telephone was used to determine if the students fell within the ‘low’ consuming group or the ‘high’ consuming group. A questionnaire was then presented to them online for them to fill and submit the result by clicking on the option “COMPLETE” once they were done filling up the questionnaire. Any unanswered questions indicated an error in submission until the respondents completed all the questions. Ten male students aged 20-25 were selected randomly but using stratified sampling considering the area of residence. The lifestyle of the students was considered and whether they lived an active life or a sedentary life. The economic background or the income of the household was also considered to decide the affordability of vegetables in their households. The questionnaire is allied to health belief model. The research questions were presented to both high consumers of vegetables and low consumers of vegetables. The questions were designed to decipher the belief and attitudes of students from both groups with regard to inclusion of vegetables in Australian diet. Q1 Do you feel susceptible to health issues because of not eating enough vegetables? Q2 Is there any belief about consumption of vegetables in Australians’ diets? Results The results were obtained through multiplying the belief value of a question and the evaluation. The results were added for both questions and divided by two. The process was repeated for the rest of the students in the group. Students who eat plenty of vegetables Q1 Do you feel susceptible to health issues because of not eating enough vegetables? Q2 Is there any belief about consumption of vegetables in Australians’ diets? Belief evaluation Belief ×evaluation Addition of Q1 and Q2 AVERAGE (perceived susceptibility) Final attitude score (total/5) Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Student 1 3 4 4 2 12 8 20 10 Student 2 3 4 2 2 6 8 14 7 Student 3 3 4 3 2 9 8 17 8.5 Student 4 3 4 4 2 12 8 20 10 Student 5 4 4 5 2 20 8 28 14 Total 49.5 9.9 Low consuming group A similar procedure was conducted for this group. Do you feel susceptible to health issues because of not eating enough vegetables? 1 Is there any belief about consumption of vegetables in Australians’ diets? 2 Belief Evaluation Belief × evaluation Addition of Q1 and Q2 AVERAGE (perceived susceptibility) Final attitude score (total/5) Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Student 1 4 2 3 2 12 4 16 8 Student 2 4 2 3 2 12 4 16 8 Student 3 4 2 3 2 12 4 16 8 Student 4 4 2 3 2 12 4 16 8 Student 5 4 2 3 2 12 4 16 8 TOTAL 40 8 Discussion It is clear that the high vegetable consuming group is aware of the health consequences of a poor diet. They understand that they are susceptible to the consequences of eating fewer vegetables in their diets. People who are involved in physical activity appreciate the needs of fruits and vegetables in their diets to repair and growth worn up tissues. The group with the low vegetable consumption believes they are not susceptible to the consequences of a poor diet (Berry, 2006). Australians are complacent where they think they are not affected or susceptible to contracting certain health condition. The rise of obese people in the country best describes the attitude of the people towards their health (Harari & Legge, 2001). Ignorance and laxity compounds the challenges the public health faces towards convincing Australians to include more vegetables in their diets. The recommendations by the public health about healthy lifestyles have been ignored by many Australians until they are faced with a health condition that forces to take certain course of action. Inclusion of vegetables in diets is very important but many people take it lightly. Information on nutrient and food intake is continually becoming out-dated due to absence of frequent research (Fiske, Gilbert & Lindzey, 2010). Australian Health Survey has to provide an update on this information from time to time. Many Australia just avoid eating vegetable because of laxity and the love for quick-fix foods that are junky and processed leading to many lifestyle related diseases. The need for civic education on the public health with regard to lifestyle diseases is needed to sensitize Australians about their health (Brannon & Feist, 2009). This research opens a door for further research about feeding behavior in Australia and intervention mechanisms that can be used to educate the public. Conclusion The power of good health rests with every individual through making improved food choices. The health belief model explains the pattern of behavior that is exhibited by many Australians in dealing with their health. The rise of obese cases in Australia points to a fundamental challenge in the feeding habit of the population. Increase in the number of processed foods and accessibility of junk foods compounds the problem. Proper education is needed to inform the public about the importance of a balanced diet. References Abraham, C., Norman, P., Conner, M. (2013). Understanding and Changing Health Behaviour: From Health Beliefs to Self-Regulation, New York: Psychology Press. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2012). Australia's Health 2012: The Thirteenth Biennial Health Report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Melbourne: AIHW. Berry, D. (2006). Health Communication: Theory And Practice: Theory and Practice, Sydney: McGraw-Hill International. Brannon, L., & Feist, J. (2009). Health Psychology: An Introduction to Behavior and Health, London: Cengage Learning. Fiske, S.T., Gilbert, D. T., & Lindzey, G. (2010). Handbook of Social Psychology, Volume 1, London: John Wiley & Sons. Harari, P., & Legge, K. (2001). Psychology and Health, Melbourne: Heinemann. Pitts, M. & Phillips, K. (1998). The Psychology of Health: An Introduction, New Jersey: Psychology Press. Read More