A multi-level study of socioeconomic status and healthy food purchasing behaviour

社会经济上处于不利地位的群体的死亡率和与饮食有关的疾病的不健康率最高。冠心病，某些癌症)。然而，我们对饮食习惯可能导致这些结果的理解是有限的。本项目通过研究社会经济地位与食品购买行为之间的关系来关注这一问题。调查这一关系的研究发现，处于不利地位的社会群体最不可能购买对长期健康很重要的食品。然而，这种联系的原因尚不清楚。对食品购买行为的一般决定因素的研究表明，食品选择受到个人的个人内部特征(例如：知识和信念)，共享相同背景的个人之间的互动(例如。父母与子女之间的关系)，经济和物质因素（如父母与子女的关系）。收入，能否拥有一辆车)和更广阔的自然环境的特征(例如：提供健康食品和公共交通)。从这些证据中可以清楚地看出，食物的选择受到多种因素的影响，这些因素在多个层面上起作用。本项目旨在同时从每个层面收集数据，并确定在每个层面运行的因素是否（以及在多大程度上）对社会经济群体的食品购买行为产生不同的影响。这项研究(i)将有助于我们理解为什么社会经济群体的健康状况不同，（ii）与许多政府报告的目标和建议一致，每一份报告都呼吁减少健康不平等，（iii）代表了以前研究方法的进步，（iv）将产生必要的信息，以发展创新和适当针对性的健康促进和健康教育运动。

Socioeconomically disadvantaged groups have the highest rates of death and ill-health for diet-related diseases (eg. coronary heart disease, some cancers). Our understanding of the dietary practices which may contribute to these outcomes, however, is limited. This project focuses on this issue by examining the relationship between socioeconomic status and food purchasing behaviour. Studies investigating this relationship have found that disadvantaged social groups are least likely to purchase foods which are important for long-term health. The reasons for this association, however, remain unclear. Research into the general determinants of food purchasing behaviour shows that food choices are influenced by the intra-personal characteristics of individuals (eg. knowledge and beliefs), interactions between individuals sharing the same context (eg. relations between parents and children), economic and material factors (eg. income, access to a car) and features of the wider physical environment (eg. availability of healthy food and public transport). What is clear from this evidence, is that food choice is influenced by factors which operate at multiple levels. This project aims to collect data simultaneously from each level, and determine whether (and to what extent) factors operating at each level differentially influence the food purchasing behaviours of socioeconomic groups. This study (i) will contribute to our understanding of why socioeconomic groups differ in their health status, (ii) is consistent with the goals and recommendations of numerous government reports, each of which calls for a a reduction in health inequalities, (iii) represents a methodological advance on previous research, and (iv) will generate the information necessary to develop innovative and appropriately targeted health promotion and health education campaigns.