LR, Syed Ali Saboor Zaidi, 18487
LR, Syed Ali Saboor Zaidi, 18487
On the go Food is
realtively cheaper
Price
compared to healthy
food
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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 ].
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 ].
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 ].
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
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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.
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