Abstract:
Background: The food environments of universities that young adults (aged 18-35) are exposed to influence their dietary behaviours. The ‘Budgie Meal’ is an economically incentivised menu item that allows staff/students to purchase a meal for $6.50 or under from university food outlets. Aim: The study aimed to determine if price incentives are associated with higher purchase volumes over other food items at five top-selling food outlets in a large urban university. If so, the study aimed to improve the nutritional quality of these ‘Budgie Meals’ to promote healthy eating in young adults attending university. Method: A cross-sectional point-of-purchase survey (n=244) was conducted to assess the food choice determinants of staff/students and their awareness of the ‘Budgie Meals’ initiative. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyse quantitative survey responses, and an open-ended item was thematically analysed. The primary outcome measure of the study was itemised sales of ‘Budgie Meals’ across two semesters of 2017, 2018 and one semester of 2019; analysed using ANOVA. The ‘Budgie Meals’ were nutritionally analysed using the New Zealand database of FoodWorks 10 and the National Healthy Food and Drink Policy. Results: Survey responses revealed taste as the leading determinant of food purchases and price as the largest barrier to healthy food purchases. Awareness of the ‘Budgie Meal’ symbol at the point-ofpurchase was poor amongst participants. The ‘Budgie Meal’ had high sales volumes at each food outlet relative to other items on offer. Food analyses revealed that the majority of the ‘Budgie Meals’ were categorised into unhealthier ‘amber’ and ‘red’ categories of the National Healthy Food and Drink Policy. Discussion: Recommendations to improve the nutritional quality of the ‘Budgie Meals’ were provided to facilitate the progression of items from the ‘amber’ category into the ‘green’ category. Promotion of the ‘Budgie Meals’ at the point-of-purchase was also suggested in order to increase sales of the nutritionally revamped items.
