(P20-107-24) Community Group Members’ Perceptions About and Barriers to Eating a Healthy Diet

Objectives: The study objective was to explore perceptions about and barriers to eating a healthy diet.

Methods: Eighteen members of select community groups in Mississippi participated in five focus groups via Zoom conferencing. Subject matter experts created semi-structured interview questions and trained facilitators conducted the focus groups. All sessions were video- and audio-recorded and analyzed using NVivo. Responses to the question about what makes food healthy and spontaneous comments regarding barriers to healthy eating were the focus of the current study.

Results: Common themes identified for what makes food healthy included: type (e.g., fruits and vegetables), preparation (e.g., cooked with herbs/spices vs fat/butter, salt), source (e.g., locally or home grown, added preservatives), portion size, how the body utilizes the food, and place (e.g., school cafeteria, at home). Interestingly, when asked what makes food healthy, participants often gave examples of what makes food unhealthy instead. Barriers to healthy eating offered by participants included: family preferences (e.g., partner preferred meat with every meal), busy schedules (e.g., no time to cook), expense (e.g., healthy food is expensive), taste (e.g., healthy food is boring), trust (e.g., ingredients added to processed foods), and availability (e.g., lack of restaurant with healthy options).

Conclusions: Individuals appear to have a multi-factorial view of what constitutes healthy foods that encompasses much more than just food type (e.g., fruits, vegetables, whole grains) and many expressed that family/work responsibilities and distaste for healthy foods make eating a nutritious diet difficult. Researchers should consider the importance of healthy food perceptions when designing interventions to positively impact dietary behaviors.

Funding Sources: USDA ARS