On-campus food environment, purchase behaviours, preferences and opinions in a Norwegian university community

Abstract

Objective: To assess food environment at OsloMet, through the nutritional profile and processing level of available commercial foods and drinks; as well as to determine food purchasing behaviours, preferences and opinions on the food environment; in order to identify whether interventions on campus need to be conducted. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting: Pilestredet and Kjeller campus of OsloMet (Norway). Participants: To analyse the nutritional profile of products offered at all food outlets (7 canteens, 3 coffee shops and 2 vending machines) at the main campuses three criteria were applied: those proposed by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, the UK Nutrient Profiling Model and those of the Food and Drink Industry Professional Practices Committee Norway. In addition, products were classified by processing level, using the NOVA system. Food purchasing, food choice behaviours, and opinions were analysed through a survey online, in which 129 subjects participated. Results: With regard to the first of the objectives, the combination of the above-mentioned criteria showed that 39·8% of the products were “unhealthy” and 85·9% were “ultra-processed”. Regarding the second objective, the most important determinants of food choice were taste, convenience, and cost and nutrition/health value. The most common improvements suggested were lowering the cost, improving the allergen information on labelling, and increasing the variety of fresh and healthy foods. Conclusions: A high proportion of the products offered were considered “unhealthy” and highly processed. Interventions that improve food prices, availability and information on labelling would be well-receivedin this community.

Development of the University Food Environment Assessment (Uni-Food) Tool and Process to Benchmark the Healthiness, Equity, and Environmental Sustainability of University Food Environments

“…The assessment results from this study are consistent with the literature demonstrating that university food environments lack an availability of healthy foods and promote the consumption of ultra-processed discretionary foods and beverages [29,32,40]. In particular, recent evaluations of campus food environments in Brazil, New Zealand, Norway and Canada suggest they generally do not support healthy eating [30,32,33,40,41]. Within Australia, an assessment of the healthiness of foods provided within food retail outlets across seven universities showed that the majority of food products were classified as unhealthy [29].…”

“…To date, there have only been a small number of assessments of the healthiness of campus food environments [29][30][31][32][33]. None of these studies have comprehensively assessed the healthiness, equity and environmental sustainability of university food environments, and no detailed frameworks exist to guide policy and practice in the area.…”

How Does the University Food Environment Impact Student Dietary Behaviors? A Systematic Review

“…Two studies performed detailed food environment audits to assess food outlets and vending machines on the products sold, while the remaining three studies employed relatively more subjective responses or collective descriptions for food environment evaluation. However, audit results were contradicting: Martinez-Perez et al ( 61 ) identified unhealthy food and beverage options including sweet snacks and sugar-sweetened drinks as significant components of solid food (58.5 %) and total drinks (23.5%), respectively. However, Roy et al ( 55 ) observed a higher number of “healthy” outlets (17.8%) suggesting that healthy food options were available on campus and were higher in density than less healthy ones (3.6%).…”

A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of the Food Environment at an Australian University Campus

“…Such healthy food environment initiatives also appear to be popular, with 92% of all staff and visitors surveyed indicating their support [ 21 ]. Recent survey data suggest university students and staff are similarly supportive of healthy food environment policies and practices [ 44 , 45 ].…”