An Assessment of University Students' Healthy Eating Behaviors with the Expectancy Theory

ABSTRACTThe consequences of poor eating behaviors can impact, not only the overall health of individuals, but it can negatively impact government and organizational costs. Healthy eating behaviours are influenced by personal, behaviour, and environmental factors, and have been investigated through many theoretical frameworks. In this study, expectancy theory was explored as a tool to understand healthy eating motivations in the context of consumer behaviour. Based on the expectancy theory, six hypotheses were created and tested using a survey conducted at two universities. A total of 188 students completed the survey which included questions on eating behaviors, nutrition knowledge and selfefficacy for healthy eating. An expectancy theory model based on the resulting scores was analyzed through Partial Least Square regression. The six hypotheses were confirmed by the analysis and the null hypotheses were rejected. This indicates that Healthy Eating Behaviour can be positively impacted by various interventions dealing with knowledge and self-efficacy (Expectancy), enhancing students' understanding of nutrition impacts on health (Instrumentality), and encouraging a change in values to believe in the importance of having a healthy eating lifestyle (Valence). Therefore, expectancy theory has a role to play in explaining healthy eating consumer behaviour and promoting health among university students.INTRODUCTIONGood nutrition is critical to maintain health for people of all ages. Nova Scotia (NS) is on the front lines of a battle against obesity, a condition that is affecting North Americans from coast to coast. Healthy eating could contribute to a healthier population, increased quality of life and reduced health care costs. Health related organizations and government departments are engaged in promoting health and wellness.University students are often living on their own for the first time. They may be eating in university dormitories, or sharing meals with friends at local eateries or in students' apartments. Are university students living a healthy eating lifestyle, and if not, how can they be motivated to do so?The purpose of this paper was to better understand how university students approach healthy eating, and how best to motivate them to pursue a healthy lifestyle. First, nutrition knowledge, eating habits, self-efficacy and perceived importance of eating nutritious meals were evaluated for a sample of university students living in Halifax, NS, then the expectancy theory was explored as a tool to better understand healthy eating motivations in the context of consumer behaviour.INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER HEALTHY EATING BEHAVIORSRising rates of obesity and nutrition related chronic diseases in western societies have been contributing to an economic burden for health care at government, organization and family levels (World Health Organization (WHO), 2009). Worldwide, it has been reported that 51% of strokes and 45% of heart disease are caused by high blood pressure which in turn is impacted by overweight and obesity and consumption of excess salt and processed foods (WHO, 2009). Also worldwide, the WHO (2009), estimated that more than a billion people were overweight (Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥25), more than 300 million were obese (BMI≥30) and that the rates were expected to increase.In high income countries, while tobacco use was reported to be the leading cause of deaths (17.9%) and disability-adjusted life years (DALY; 10.7%), the combined totals from high blood pressure, overweight and obesity, high blood sugar, high cholesterol and low vegetable and fruit intake were identified as causes of 40.5% of deaths and 22.2% of DALY (WHO, 2009). This indicates that is is imperative to improve healthy eating behaviors.There is also evidence that poor eating behaviors can lead to reduced resistance to infection, poor mental and overall malaise (Qi, Phillips and Hopman, 2006; Boyle and LaRose, 2009; Edelstein and Sarlin, 2009; Gibney, Lanham-New, Cassidy and Vorster, 2009). …

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