1. Investigating the Relationship between Perceived Meal Colour Variety and Food Intake across Meal Types in a Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment
- Author
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Harald T. Schupp, Laura M. König, Deborah R. Wahl, Katrin Ziesemer, Britta Renner, Karoline Villinger, and Julia E. Koller
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,vegetables ,Adult ,Male ,Food intake ,Ecological Momentary Assessment ,eating behaviour ,food colours ,snacks ,ecological momentary assessment ,lcsh:TX341-641 ,Health benefits ,Article ,Food group ,03 medical and health sciences ,Eating ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,ddc:150 ,Negatively associated ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Eating behaviour ,Meals ,Meal ,030109 nutrition & dietetics ,Nutrition and Dietetics ,Ecology ,Multilevel modelling ,digestive, oral, and skin physiology ,food and beverages ,Feeding Behavior ,Variety (linguistics) ,Fruit ,Female ,Smartphone ,Diet, Healthy ,Psychology ,lcsh:Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,Color Perception ,Food Science - Abstract
Although most people are aware of the health benefits of consuming sufficient amounts of fruit and vegetables, many do not adhere to current dietary recommendations. Recent studies have suggested meal colour variety as an intuitive cue for healthy and enjoyable lunch meal choices. The present study extends this research by testing the “colourful = healthy” association across meal types. Using smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment, 110 participants recorded 2818 eating occasions over a period of eight days. For each eating occasion, a picture, a short written description of the meal, the meal type (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, snack) and the perceived meal colour variety were recorded. Foods were classified into seven food groups based on the pictures and descriptions. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling. For all meal types except afternoon tea which did not include vegetables, perceived that meal colour variety was positively related to vegetable consumption (bs ≥ 0.001, ts ≥ 3.27, ps ≤ 0.002, quasi-R2s ≥ 0.06). Moreover, perceived meal colour variety was negatively associated with sweets consumption for breakfast, dinner and snacks (bs ≤ −0.001, ts ≤ −2.82, ps ≤ 0.006, quasi-R2s ≥ 0.01). The “colourful = healthy” association can be generalized across meal types and thus may be a promising strategy to promote a healthier diet.
- Published
- 2021