Unraveling heterogeneity of consumers’ food choice: Implications for nutrition interventions in eastern India

Abstract

Understanding heterogeneity of consumers' food choice is critical in formulating tailored nutrition interventions. To illustrate this, we survey urban and rural consumers from low- and middle-income households in eastern India to unravel five sources of heterogeneity (5 Ws) in gastronomic systems that affect diets: (i) socioeconomic characteristics of the target population ( who ); (ii) food environments ( where ); (iii) eating occasions ( when ); (iv) consumed dishes ( what ); and (v) ingredient attributes and consumer attitudes towards food ( why ). Diets in eastern India are predominantly starch-based featuring infrequent intake of fruits and vegetables. Accounting for heterogeneity in gastronomic systems can help policy makers and nutritionists develop more targeted nutrition interventions, which can aid in the development of planetary health diets in various contexts around the world.

The Link between Food Environment and Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review

“…In New Zealand, FE policy implementation led to excellent recommendations, such as the implementation of a national action plan for preventing non-communicable diseases, establishing priorities for reducing childhood and adolescent obesity, doubling funding for population nutrition promotion, and reducing the marketing of unhealthy foods [ 76 ]. In India, various nutrition interventions were formulated to enhance the FE through systematic planning and embracing differences in the problem for decoding and dividing to simplify resolutions to be addressed by policymakers and nutritionists in the future [ 77 ].…”

Perceived neighbourhood food access is associated with consumption of animal-flesh food, fruits and vegetables among mothers and young children in peri-urban Cambodia

“…This hypothesis can explain why interventions that improved neighbourhood food availability alone yielded inconsistent effects on food purchase and consumption (40) but showed positive results if combined with other components like food affordability and desirability (41,42) . Theoretical and empirical studies of food choice have also indicated that food purchase and consumption decisions are complex, contextual and driven by inter-related factors (43,44) . Building on these evidence, our findings support the multi-component approach in food environment interventions, where multiple aspects are taken into account to influence the overall perception of neighbourhood food access, which can lead to changes in food purchase (45) , home food availability (46) and ultimately food consumption.…”

Food security and the cultural heritage missing link

“…It is thus pertinent that these facets are incorporated in the policy discourse on food security. Cultural heritage defines where people purchase and consume food (food environments), when they consume it (eating occasions), what they consume (dishes, food items, beverages), how they consume it (using utensils or by hand) and why (ingredient attributes and pairings, convenience, consumer attitudes towards food) ( Custodio et al, 2021 ).…”

“…It should be acknowledged that cultural heritage does not always lead individuals towards healthier food choices. Gastronomic systems research in eastern India, for example, suggests that culturally inherited preference for starchy and oil dense rice-based diets can be a barrier for nutrition interventions that seek to encourage healthy diets ( Custodio et al, 2021 ; Samaddar et al, 2020 ). This presents a similar quandary as has been previously discussed, where culturally popular diets are less than nutritious.…”