The main purpose of Ecology of Food and Nutrition (EFN) is to promote scholarly debate and engagement on the holistic and cross-cultural dimensions of the study of food and nutrition. It emphasizes foods and food systems not only in terms of their utilization to satisfy human nutritional needs and health, but also to promote and contest social and cultural identity. Articles published in this issue of EFN examine a range of factors affecting food consumption patterns, including food preparation, self-efficacy, positive behaviors, and healthy eating. Together these articles showcase several emerging areas of research related to the determinants of food preparation and consumption patterns among a diverse group of populations.
The article by Casteneda–Gameros and colleagues presents the results of a study that examines the factors influencing eating behaviors among older migrant women living in the United Kingdom. The researchers collected both quantitative and qualitative data, using a sequential mixed-methods design, to examine energy and nutrient intake and to gain an in-depth understanding of factors influencing eating behaviors of study participants. The results show that the sample women have inadequate intakes of key nutrients despite having high rates of obesity and overweight. Notwithstanding a high level of awareness about what constitutes a healthy diet, several personal and socioeconomic characteristics influenced food intake among older migrant women. This study is unique not only in terms of its findings, but also for focusing on eating behavior among older migrant women living in the United Kingdom.
The article by Honrath and colleagues examines the extent to which nutrition education with fruits and vegetables supplementation leads to great dietary improvement among overweight or obese adults. The researchers used a randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology to collect data among 67 individuals. The RCT consisted of pretesting, intervention, and posttesting phases with the intervention group participants enrolling in a weekly nutrition education class in addition to receiving fruits and vegetables supplements for the 10 weeks of the intervention phase. When controlled for socioeconomic characteristics, the fruit intake increased from pretesting to posttesting stage in the intervention group as compared to the control group. Furthermore, the most significant increase was observed among individuals with a graduate degree.
Based on their study, Honrath and colleagues suggest that future studies should focus on identifying and targeting barriers to fruits and vegetables consumption irrespective of the socioeconomic characteristics.
The article by Ozturk and Ayhan focuses on the complex relationship between sleep and obesity. They examine the association between poor sleep quality, obesity, and anthropometric status among women in Turkey. The article presents the results of a cross-sectional study conducted among 105 women (age range 20–55 years). The data for this study were collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and food frequency questionnaire. The authors also collected a number of anthropometric measurements and body composition data to assess the physical characteristics of study participants. The authors conclude that there is a significant relationship between sleep quality and bread consumption and no association between sleep quality and rice and pasta consumption.
Finally, Garcia and colleagues examine the relationship between home meal preparation and socioeconomic, psychosocial, and environmental factors. They hypothesize that socioeconomic characteristics, healthy food beliefs and attitudes, higher food-related psychosocial factors, healthy food acquisition patterns and food sources, and lower adult BMI would be associated with higher frequency of home meal preparation and low fast-food purchase frequency. The authors conclude that a greater frequency of home meal preparation is favorably associated with positive beliefs, attitudes, and intentions to healthy eating, self-efficacy among low-income urban African–American adults.