How do they eat? An ethnographic study of student eating behaviour in a New Zealand University

Abstract

Background Noncommunicable diseases are the cause of 74% of deaths globally. As the obesity pandemic becomes an increasingly serious public health problem of the world – especially in New Zealand – it is important to gain a better understanding of the environmental factors that are conducive to poor diet and weight gain to aid in the prevention and control of obesity. For adolescents transitioning into young adulthood, tertiary education is a critical period for weight gain. While there is evidence regarding factors from the university environment that influence the eating behaviours of university-age students, there is a paucity of evidence within the context of New Zealand universities. The aim of this research project was to investigate how the university food environment and university lifestyle impact the dietary behaviours of university students in a New Zealand university. Methods The study used an qualitative approach, and observed students both inside and outside of the university campus grounds. The research project was designed to be explorative, and involved the application of ethnographic methods to gain a deeper ontological understanding of what constitutes the “university environment”, examining how characteristics of the environment such as placements, assignments, exams, peers, and other factors related to the university environment interact with, influence, or determine eating behaviours of students. Nine students’ eating behaviours were observed between the 18th of July and the 1st of November using Indeemo, a mobile ethnography platform. Participants observed eating occasions by creating responses to tasks. Participants were able to use various mediums to complete responses, including photos, videos, text descriptions or a combination of all three. Retrospective interviews about specific eating occasions were also conducted using the Indeemo mobile ethnography platform. Results Nine students; all females aged between 19 and 29 years (mean age 22 years) participated in the research project. Across the three-month study period, participants created a total of 1765 responses to tasks, and answered 138 interview questions. Through the process of thematic analysis, 857 codes were generated from the data: 493 codes relating to interpersonal influences of eating behaviour, 177 codes relating to physical environmental influences of eating behaviour, 102 societal influences of eating behaviour and 85 social environmental influences of eating behaviour. From these initial codes, four major themes, and associated sub-themes emerged from the data: 1) time is of the essence, 2) cash is king, 3) the on-off campus conundrum, and 4) miscellaneous influences. Conclusion The findings of this research project highlighted that factors of the physical and nonphysical university environment influenced the eating behaviours of students from the study population.