Introduction
Methods
Study design
Focus groups recruitment
Data collection
Conceptualizing diet | What is a healthy diet? Are your eating habits healthy? On a scale of 1 to 7 (with 7 being the highest), what score would you give your diet? What foods do you consider to be healthy? Unhealthy? Why? Do you know what the dietary guidelines are? What are they? |
Food intake | Tells us about your preferences and frequency of eating the following foods: dairy, fruits, vegetables, fish or seafood, bread, sugar-sweetened beverages (juice, soda, others). How many glasses of water do you drink per day (in number)? How many times per week? How many meals do you eat at school (in number)? |
Cooking | Do you like to cook? Do you know how to cook? Do you help prepare the meals in your house? |
Eating habits | Do you eat breakfast every day? What do you eat? Do you eat lunch every day? At a set time? Is your lunch healthy? Do you eat at tea time? Do you eat dinner every day? What do you eat? Do you eat with other members of your family? Does your diet change on the weekend? Why? Why not? How do your friendships influence your diet? |
Barriers to healthy eating | What are the primary difficulties for having a healthy diet? Do you have money to buy foods? Which type of foods? Do you think that advertisement influences what foods you buy? What drives your decision making when choosing what foods to eat? What is the main barrier to eating a healthy breakfast? |
Technology | What type of technology do you most use? What social networks do you use most? How could technology be used to teach about eating and nutrition at school? |
Analysis of focus groups transcripts
- Majority group (predominant group with 60–70% of participants): categories appear clearly within individual experiences and can be combined into a clear discourse.
- Intermediate group (with 20–30% of participants): ideas represent a reality that differs sharply compared to the other two groups.
- Minority group (with less than 10% of participants): ideas appear with less force but represent important realities. From a sociological perspective, this group breaks the social consensus that emerges from the other profiles, with proposals against majority rule. The ideas of this group do not always influence other ideas, but rather they generate new approaches.
Results
Conceptualizing diet
Among the Minority group, unhealthy foods were preferred. They did not demonstrate any interest in making a change and were indifferent about personal eating habits (Table 2).... I do a lot of exercise ... in my house we don’t eat a lot of fried food and if we eat sweets it’s like once a month ... "(eighth grade female).
¨ ... I eat healthy when I’m with my grandma and my mom … when I’m with my brother we only eat junk food ... "(seventh grade female)
The self-evaluation adolescent diet did not differ by sex. However, females were more severe with themselves with an average of 4.4, on a scale of 1 to 7, while males had an average of 5.0.“... Most of the time I eat junk food. I hardly ever eat healthy [food]...” (Seventh grade male)
"... a 3 because sometimes when I'm with my mom I eat fruit with yogurt or milk with banana, but when I'm with my dad I eat junk food ... ¨ (sixth grade female).
“... about a 5 because I eat a lot of bread ... and I do not eat a lot of vegetables” (seventh grade male).
Majority group | Intermediate group | Minority group | |
---|---|---|---|
Male and Female Adolescents | Moderate intake of fruits and vegetables. High intake of high-calorie foods. | High intake of fruits and vegetables. Concern for healthy eating. Low intake of high-calorie foods. | Minimal intake of fruits and vegetables. Indifference about personal eating habits. High intake of high-calorie foods. |
Food intake
“There is always soda in my house. I can drink up to 3 liters ... they buy diet [soda] but I don’t like it, it grosses me out” (eighth grade female).
Culinary skills
“When I'm hungry I cook pasta, fries, rice or sausage” (seventh grade female)
“The only thing I know cooking is pasta, egg or hamburger” (Eighth grade female)
Eating habits
Majority group | Intermediate group | Minority group | |
---|---|---|---|
Breakfast | Eats breakfast daily, at home or at home and school (double breakfast). Frequently eaten foods include: bread with butter, ham, cheese or jam; milk, tea or yogurt with cereal. | Eats breakfast at school. Eats: bread with butter, egg, jam; milk or yogurt with cereal. | Does not eat breakfast. Reports not being hungry in the morning. |
Lunch | Eats lunch daily in school. If still hungry after school, eat again at home. | Eats at school. | Eats lunch brought from home or they eat at home. |
Tea time/ dinner | Tea time is the main meal with a high bread consumption. | No differences with the other two profiles | Tea time and dinner are a single meal. |
With regard to tea time (called “once” in Chile) the three groups were similar. Adolescents reported that this was the time when the family ate together with bread being an important part of this meal.“I do not eat breakfast because I get up very late and I do not like to eat early” (sixth grade female).
On weekends, the majority of adolescents explained that their eating habits changed for the worse, in comparison to during the week, as result of increased junk food consumption. Adolescents stated that on the weekend they go out to eat with their families to places like the mall food court, where they mostly ate burgers, pizzas, and grilled chicken with fries, hot dogs, Chinese food and other “junk” food. On the other hand, a group reported eating healthy and unhealthy foods. The minority group stated that their diet improved on the weekend, because there was more time to cook improving access to “homemade” foods with an increased consumption of vegetables in salads.“At tea time, I eat bread with egg or butter” (seventh grade female).
Barriers
“Because they are better” (eighth grade male)
They also considered that unhealthy foods are a “vice” and when they start eating they cannot stop (addictive factor). They reported being aware of this situation but were not willing to change their behavior. They considered that these factors were the biggest barriers to eating healthy.“Because they fill you up more” (eighth grade male)
“Once you eat you cannot stop” (male, seventh grade)
Another barrier was the low-salt lunch offered by the school cafeteria.“It’s that yummy things are not healthy” (female, eighth grade)
“The lunch that they have here doesn’t have enough salt, for that reason lots of us bring our own” (female, sixth grade)
Use of Technology
Females | Males |
---|---|
Interactive program with educational games. Each adolescent must have their own tablet or computer. A variety of games should be offered Healthy but good-tasting recipes. Should include music and tutorials. Information on healthy diets. Dance choreography. | Interactive program. Personalized program that incorporates personal information, like weight and height for a self-assessment of nutritional status, or the benefits of engaging in various sports. Attractive colors and designs. Personalized alarm that indicates when to eat. |