An Ecological Perspective of Food Choice and Eating Autonomy Among Adolescents

Abstract

Adolescence is an important developmental period marked by a transition from primarily parental-controlled eating to self-directed and peer-influenced eating. During this period, adolescents gain autonomy over their individual food choices and eating behavior in general. While parent-feeding practices have been shown to influence eating behaviors in children, little is known about how these relationships track across adolescent development as autonomy expands. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify factors that impact food decisions and eating autonomy among adolescents. Using the food choice process model as a guide, four focus groups were conducted with 34 adolescents. Focus group discussion was semi-structured, asking teens about influences on their food choices across different food environments, their involvement with food purchasing and preparation, and perceived control over food their choices. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using deductive and inductive code creation and thematic analysis. This study found six leading influences on adolescents' food choices and identified additional factors with prominence within specific environmental contexts. This study distinguished a broader spectrum of factors influencing adolescent food choice that extend beyond “convenience” and “taste” which have previously been identified as significant contributors. The degree of control that teens reported differed by eating location, occasion, and social context. Finally, adolescents demonstrated various levels of engagement in behaviors related to their eating autonomy. Identifying the emergent themes related to adolescent autonomy was the first step toward the goal of developing a scale to evaluate adolescent eating autonomy.

Children’s Participation in Free School Meals: A Qualitative Study among Pupils, Parents, and Teachers

“…The finding that food preferences is one of the main factors influencing pupils’ food choices is in line with several previous studies [ 39 , 40 , 42 , 58 ]. A US study on free school breakfast showed that unfulfilled food preferences was a barrier to participation, and the children accepted being hungry rather than eating the school breakfast if they did not like it [ 39 ].…”

“…A rapid evidence review about school food provision in high-income countries identified that many barriers to participation were explicitly related to the school environment and neighborhoods rather than the school meal programs, such as access to competitive foods [ 58 ]. As other studies have shown [ 42 , 67 ], going to the mall or fast-food restaurants is part of adolescents’ increasing autonomy. In addition, independently seeking out foods and controlling their own food choices were important issues [ 42 ] found related to adolescents’ eating autonomy.…”

“…However, simply providing a free meal is not a guarantee that pupils will participate in the program and eat the food [ 37 ], and several challenges related to the practical implementation of school meals have been identified. These challenges include meeting children’s food preferences [ 38 , 39 ], social challenges such as social acceptability and stigmatization, and pupils’ eating autonomy [ 40 , 41 , 42 ]. The food environment near schools, such as fast-food outlets and grocery stores, may also pose challenges to children’s participation in school meals [ 43 ].…”

Too Jittery to Sleep? Temporal Associations of Actigraphic Sleep and Caffeine in Adolescents

“…Self-reported sleep can deviate considerably from sleep assessed through objective measures such as actigraphy [ 41 ], and between-person effects assessed in cross-sectional research do not necessarily translate to within-person effects in direction or magnitude [ 37 ]. It may be particularly important to examine associations between caffeine consumption and dimensions of sleep health given that adolescents begin to gain autonomy over their own sleep behaviors [ 42 ] and diet [ 43 ] versus childhood.…”

Associations between Avocado Consumption and Diet Quality, Dietary Intake, Measures of Obesity and Body Composition in Adolescents: The Teen Food and Development Study

“…Several factors influence the formulation of dietary behaviors and self-directed food choices among the youth [52]. The relatively higher diet quality of our adolescent population compared to reports from other children and adolescent populations may be attributed to home and school influences on their dietary choices and behaviors.…”