|
Comparison of Food Choice Motives
between Malay Husbands and Wives in an Urban Community
Asma A1,2, Nawalyah AG1,
Rokiah MY1 & Mohd Nasir MT1
1 Department of
Nutrition & Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Universiti
Putra Malaysia
2 Department of Food
Science, Faculty of Agrotechnology and Food ScienceUniversiti Malaysia
Terengganu
ABSTRACT
The main objective of this study
was to determine the motives underlying the selection of foods between husbands
and wives in an urban community. Thiscross-sectional study was carried out in
Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia among 150 married couples aged 20 and
above, who voluntarily agreed to participate and were not on any special diet.
Data were collected using the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) which measured the
health-related and non health related factor that influence people's food
choices. It consisted of 36 items designed to assess the reported importance of
nine factors: health, mood, convenience, sensory
appeal, natural content, price,
weight control, familiarity, and ethical concern. In this
study, the FCQ was adapted and a new factor, religion (religious
guidelines), was included. Demographic characteristics including age,
occupation, education, household income and household size were also collected.
Data were analysed using SPSS version 16. Results showed that 40.7% of husbands
(mean age= 43.33 + 11.16 years) and 55.3% of wives (mean age= 41.28 + 10.93
years) perceived themselves as the main food shopper while 12.0% of the husbands
and 85.3% of the wives perceived themselves as the main meal planner. Husbands
rated religion as the most prominent factor in food choice motives with a mean
average rating of 4.56 + 0.59 on a 5-point rating scale, followed by health and
convenience factor. Meanwhile, the wives rated health as the most essential
factor with mean average rating of 4.49 + 0.58, followed by religion and
convenience factor. Sensory appeal, ethical concerns and familiarity were rated
as the bottom three factors of food choice motives among these two groups. Price
of foods was not considered as an important factor in making food choices for
the subjects in this study. In conclusion, the husbands and wives of this urban
community rated religion, health and convenience as the three most important
food choice motives in food selection.
Keywords:
Food choice motives, Malay husbands, Malay wives, urban community
Download
full article
|
