Why women of lower educational attainment struggle to make healthier food choices: the importance of psychological and social factors.

Wendy Lawrence; Chas Skinner; Cheryl Haslam; Sian Robinson; Hazel Inskip; David Barker; Cyrus Cooper; Alan Jackson; Mary Barker

doi:10.1080/08870440802460426

Why women of lower educational attainment struggle to make healthier food choices: the importance of psychological and social factors.

Wendy Lawrence^*, Chas Skinner, Cheryl Haslam, Sian Robinson, Hazel Inskip, David Barker, Cyrus Cooper, Alan Jackson, Mary Barker

^*Corresponding author for this work

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Women of lower educational attainment are more likely to eat unhealthy diets than women of higher educational attainment. To identify influences on the food choices of women with lower educational attainment, 11 focus groups (eight with women of lower, and three with women of higher educational attainment) were held. Using a semi-structured discussion guide, environmental, social, historical and psychological factors known to be associated with food choice were explored. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Compared to women of higher educational attainment, women of lower educational attainment had less control over their families' food choices, less support for attempts to eat healthily, fewer opportunities to observe and learn good food-related practices, more negative affect, more perceived environmental constraints and more ambiguous beliefs about the consequences of eating a nutritious diet. These findings provide a starting point for taking forward the design of an intervention to improve the diets of young women.

Original language	English
Journal	Psychology & health
Volume	24
Issue number	9
Pages (from-to)	1003-1020
Number of pages	18
ISSN	0887-0446
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440802460426
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2009

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AU - Cooper, Cyrus

AU - Jackson, Alan

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Why women of lower educational attainment struggle to make healthier food choices: the importance of psychological and social factors.

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