Environmental determinants of healthy eating: in need of theory and evidence: Symposium on ‘Behavioural nutrition and energy balance in the young’
Open accessAbstract
In order to promote healthful nutrition, insight is needed into the determinants of nutrition behaviours. Behavioural determinant research and behavioural nutrition interventions have focused mostly on individual-level motivational factors. It has been argued that the individual's socio-cultural and physical environments may be the main determinants of nutrition behaviours. However, the theoretical basis and empirical evidence for environmental determinants of nutrition behaviours are not strong. The present paper is a narrative review informed by a series of systematic reviews and recent original studies on associations between environmental factors and nutrition behaviours to provide an overview and discussion of the evidence for environmental correlates and predictors of nutrition behaviour. Although the number of studies on potential environmental determinants of nutrition behaviours has increased steeply over the last decades, they include only a few well-designed studies with validated measures and guided by sound theoretical frameworks. The preliminary evidence from the available systematic reviews indicates that socio-cultural environmental factors defining what is socially acceptable, desirable and appropriate to eat may be more important for healthful eating than physical environments that define the availability and accessibility of foods. It is concluded that there is a lack of well-designed studies on environmental determinants of healthful eating behaviours. Preliminary evidence indicates that social environmental factors may be more important than physical environmental factors for healthful eating. Better-designed studies are needed to further build evidence-based theory on environmental determinants to guide the development of interventions to promote healthful eating.
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Sociocultural determinants include cultural norms, social pressures, social class, social networks, and race/ethnicity.
“Sociocultural determinants include cultural norms, social pressures, social class, social networks, and race/ethnicity.390”
From Dietary and Policy Priorities for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity: A Comprehensive Review (2016) · cites this paper as [390]
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- Authors
- Brug, J., Kremers, S. P., Lenthe, F. V., Ball, K., & Crawford, D.
- Affiliations
- Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Deakin University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Brug, Johannes
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2008-08
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 307-316
- ISSN
- 0029-6651 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2719
- OpenAlex
- W2158609964
- Cited by
- 157
- References
- 71
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 0.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of The Nutrition Society (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council
- National Health and Medical Research Council (479513)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Nutrition, Health, and Society Studies
- Keywords
- healthy eating, nutrition behaviour, socio-cultural environment, physical environment, food availability and accessibility, social norms, food environment interventions
- MeSH terms
- Diet, Environment, Feeding Behavior, Health Promotion, Humans, Life Style, Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Public Health, Social Environment, Health Behavior
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