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Background
There has been a growing emphasis on sustainable eating practices for human and planetary health.
Objective
This study aimed to analyze sustainable eating practices (focusing more on environmental concerns) at each stage from purchase, to cooking, to consumption, and to disposal among Korean young adults in their 20s.
Study Design, Setting, Participants
An online survey was conducted from February 18th to 25th, 2021, to Korean young adults (male: 579, female: 523) in their 20s. A survey questionnaire was developed to measure respondents’ sustainable eating practices from purchase (8 items), to cooking (3 items), to consumption (6 items), and to disposal (3 items) by using a 5-point Likert scale. It also assessed respondents’ demographic characteristics (gender, household type, education level) and their perception of environmental impacts of human diets.
Measurable Outcome/Analysis
Descriptive statistical analysis was performed on all study variables. The reliability of multiple-item measurements was verified using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The differences in sustainable eating practices across respondents’ demographic characteristics and their perception of environmental impacts of human diets were analyzed by independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics version 25.0 at the significance level of 0.05.
Results
The averages of sustainable eating practices at each stage were in the order of disposal (3.50), consumption (3.48), cooking (3.26) and purchase (3.18). Overall, in the case of food purchase, single-person households and in the case of food consumption, single-person households and high school graduates showed a significantly lower level of sustainable eating practices. On the other hand, in the group of people that highly perceived the importance of environmental impacts of human diets, the level of sustainable eating practices at all stages tended to be significantly higher.
Conclusions
To promote sustainable eating practices among Korean young adults in their 20s, efforts should be exerted to pay particular attention to single-person households and those with lower educational attainment, and to increase recognition of environmental impacts of human diets.
Funding
National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)
Article info
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Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
