Descriptive Statistics
In total, 78 Dutch adults (51 females, 65%) enrolled in this study. Age varied between 18 and 68 years (Mage = 38.4 years, SDage = 15.5). Almost half of the respondents (n = 43, 55%) had completed higher-level professional education, university or postgraduate studies, while 20 respondents (26%) had graduated from high school (havo or vwo) or had a degree in middle professional education. Fourteen respondents (18%) had no education beyond primary school, graduated from lower-level secondary education or had completed lower professional education. One responder replied with “other education”. The mean BMI of the sample was 23.3 ± 4.1. Of this sample, four respondents (5%) were classified as underweight, 51 (68%) as having a normal weight, 15 (20%) as non-obese overweight and 5 (7%) as obese. Three respondents did not fill in their weight. The mean importance of a healthy diet for this sample was 8.3 ± 1.4 (scale range 1–10).
What Is Healthy Eating?
Four major categories and a residual category were constructed that constitutes phrases defining healthy eating in this sample. The largest category “food products” consisted of drinks, fish, fruit, grain products, meat, nuts, specific food products (i.e. products that could not be grouped in the other food product categories) and vegetables. The second largest “content/nutrients” contained the categories: calories, carbohydrates, fat, fibres, nutrients, protein, salt, vitamins/minerals. This major category was followed by “food processing” that consists of two categories: preparation and sustainable foods. The following major category was “dietary patterns” consisting of four categories: type of eater, amount, balanced and recommendations. The smallest major category was “other” containing other (or segments that could not be classified in the other categories), hype/claims, and lifestyle. See Table 2 for an overview of all (major) categories that were identified, presented with the frequencies and percentages, calculated based on all meaningful segments mentioned by all participants (fourth column) and how often each unique category was mentioned by participants (fifth column). From all segments given, most belonged to the following categories: vegetables, biological/sustainable, fruit, preparation, carbohydrates, fat, amount and balanced. The least occurrent categories were hype/claims (“other”), calories (“content/nutrient”), grain products (“food product”), type of eater and recommendations (“dietary patterns”).
Table 2
Overview of the categories on what is healthy eating.
Major categories (n, %) | Categories | Examples | FrEq. (answers; %)a | FrEq. (pp. %)b |
Dietary patterns (52, 12.5%) | Balanced | Varied; Balanced | 22 (5.3) | 19 (24.4) |
| Amount | Right amount; Moderated | 21 (5.1) | 19 (24.4) |
| Recommendations | Wheel of five | 5 (1.2) | 5 (6.4) |
| Type of eater | Vegetarian; Vegan | 4 (1.0) | 4 (5.1) |
Food processing (79, 19.0%) | Biological/ sustainable | Unprocessed; Biological | 42 (10.1) | 31 (39.7) |
| Preparation | Healthy preparation; Fresh | 37 (8.9) | 27 (34.6) |
Food product (148, 35.7%) | Vegetables | Vegetables; Legumes | 46 (11.1) | 42 (53.9) |
| Fruit | Fruit | 39 (9.4) | 39 (50.0) |
| Meat | Not too much meat; Chicken | 15 (3.6) | 14 (18.0) |
| Drinks | A lot of water; Herb tea | 13 (3.1) | 11 (14.1) |
| Nuts | Nuts; Seeds | 12 (2.9) | 8 (10.3) |
| (Specific) food products | Eggs; Dairy | 11 (2.7) | 10 (12.8) |
| Fish | Fish | 7 (1.7) | 7 (9.0) |
| Grain products | Bread; Grains | 5 (1.2) | 5 (6.4) |
Content/Nutrient (116, 28.0%) | Carbohydrates | Fast carbs; No sugar | 32 (7.7) | 18 (35.9) |
| Fat | Good fats; Low in fat | 27 (6.5) | 25 (32.1) |
| Fibres | Rich of fibres | 15 (3.6) | 15 (19.2) |
| Salt | Little salt | 14 (3.4) | 14 (18.0) |
| Vitamins/minerals | Vitamins | 10 (2.4) | 10 (12.8) |
| Nutrient | Nutrients; Nutritional value | 7 (1.7) | 7 (9.0) |
| Protein | Proteins | 7 (1.7) | 7 (9.0) |
| Calories | Few calories | 4 (1.0) | 4 (5.1) |
Other (20, 4.8%) | Lifestyle | Exercising | 10 (2.4) | 10 (12.8) |
| Other | Development in food industry | 8 (1.9) | 8 (10.3) |
| Hype/claims | Don’t follow hypes | 2 (0.5) | 2 (2.6) |
Note. Owing to rounding, percentages do not always add up to 100%. |
a In this column it can be found how often this category was mentioned of all answers (n = 415). |
b In this column it can be found by how many participants a particular category was mentioned (n = 78). |
How To Eat Healthily?
The same four major categories and a residual category could be applied to the categories of how to eat healthily. Here, the largest category was “food processing” that consists of two categories: preparation and organic foods. The second-largest major category was “food products” consisted of dairy, drinks, fish, fruit, grain products, meat, nuts, products, snacks (“less snacks”; this was not found in what is healthy eating) and vegetables. This major category was followed by “dietary patterns” consisting of five categories: type of eater, amount, balance, eating pattern and recommendations. The following major category was “content/nutrients” that contained the categories: calories, carbs, fat, fibres, nutrients, protein, salt, vitamins/minerals. The smallest major category was “other” containing segments that could not be classified in the other categories, hype/claims, and lifestyle. See Table 3 for an overview of all (major) categories that were identified for how to eat (more) healthily, presented with the frequencies and percentages, calculated based on all phrases (N = 197) and how often each unique category was mentioned by participants. We found that segments that belonged to the preparation category were mentioned most often, i.e. about 40% of this sample mentioned concepts belonging to this category. From all segments given, most belonged to the categories: preparation, balanced, vegetables, and biological. The least occurrent categories were nuts, dairy (“food product”), protein (“content/nutrients”) and environment (“other”).
Table 3
Overview of the categories how to eat (more) healthily
Major categories (n, %) | Categories | Examples | Frequencies (answers; %) | Frequencies (pp; %) |
Dietary patterns (49, 24.9%) | Balance | Varied | 21 (10.7) | 21 (26.9) |
| Amount | Moderated; Small portions | 12 (6.1) | 12 (15.4) |
| Type of diet/eater | Vegan or vegetarian | 7 (3.6) | 7 (9.0) |
| Eating pattern | Six fixed eating occasions | 7 (3.6) | 7 (9.0) |
| Recommendations | Advice; Wheel of five | 2 (1.0) | 2 (2.6) |
Food processing (59, 30.0%) | Preparation | Stir fry; Prepare yourself | 43 (21.8) | 31 (39.7) |
| Biological/organic | Natural products | 16 (8.1) | 14 (18.0) |
Food product (54, 27.4%) | Vegetables | A lot of vegetables | 16 (8.1) | 16 (20.5) |
| (Healthy) products | Healthy products | 9 (4.6) | 9 (11.5) |
| Fruit | Fruit | 7 (3.6) | 7 (9.0) |
| Snacks | No snacks | 7 (3.6) | 7 (9.0) |
| Grain products | Less bread; Multigrain products | 5 (2.5) | 5 (6.4) |
| Meat | No or less meat | 4 (2.0) | 4 (5.1) |
| Drinks | Smoothie | 2 (1.0) | 2 (2.6) |
| Fish | Fish | 2 (1.0) | 2 (2.6) |
| Nuts | Nuts | 1 (0.5) | 1 (1.3) |
| Dairy | Dairy | 1 (0.5) | 1 (1.3) |
Content/Nutrient (19, 9.6%) | Carbs | Decrease sugar intake | 9 (4.6) | 9 (11.5) |
| Fat | Less fat; Healthy fat | 5 (2.5) | 5 (6.4) |
| Nutrients | Nutritional values | 2 (1.0) | 2 (2.6) |
| Calories | Calories | 2 (1.0) | 2 (2.6) |
| Protein | Rich of proteins | 1 (0.5) | 1 (1.3) |
Other (16, 8.1%) | Shopping | Groceries shopping; Buying | 8 (4.1) | 8 (10.3) |
| Other | Keep it simple | 5 (2.5) | 5 (6.4) |
| Information | Gain knowledge | 2 (1.0) | 2 (2.6) |
| Environment | At the table | 1 (0.5) | 1 (1.3) |
Note. Owing to rounding, percentages do not always add up to 100%. |
a In this column it can be found how often this category was mentioned of all answers (n = 197). |
b In this column it can be found by how many participants a particular category was mentioned (n = 78). |
Preferred Ways Of Eating Healthier
Participants also had to select four options that represented their preferred way of eating healthy among predefined categories. These results are presented in Fig. 1. We found that eating more vegetables was chosen by more than half of the participants as a preferred way to eat (more) healthily (n = 42, 54%). Furthermore, cooking with fresh ingredients (n = 32), drink more water (n = 28), and limit fat intake (n = 22) were considered to be other preferred ways to practice a healthy diet.
Note
Percentages after the bars indicate the percentage of participants that chose that particular answer. SSBs are sugar-sweetened beverages. Not all participants always chose four options as a way to eat (more) healthily.