What does the researcher mean by ‘changing food preferences’?

Question

Read the passage given below.  

Changing food preferences have brought about rapid changes in the structure of the Indian diet. The rapid proliferation of multinational fastfood companies and the influence of Western culture have replaced traditional home-cooked meals with ready-to-eat, processed foods thus increasing the risk of chronic diseases in urban Indians. Therefore, nurturing  healthy eating habits among Indians from an early age would help to reduce health risks. 

To date, little is known about the quality and quantity of foods and beverages consumed by urban Indian adolescents. This lack of evidence is a significant barrier to the development of effective nutrition promotion and disease prevention measures.

Therefore, a self-administered, semi-quantitative, 59-item meal-based food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed to assess the dietary intake of adolescents. A total of 1026 students (aged 14–16 years) attending private, English-speaking schools in Kolkata completed the survey.

 A sample percentage of the food consumption pattern is displayed (Fig. 1)

The survey results report poor food consumption patterns and highlights the need to design healthy eating initiatives. Interestingly, while there were no gender differences in the consumption of legumes and fried snacks, the survey found more females consumed cereals, vegetables and fruits than their male counterparts.

In conclusion, the report suggested that schools ought to incorporate food literacy concepts into their curriculum as they have the potential of increasing the fruit and vegetable intake in teenagers. Additionally, healthy school canteen policies with improved availability, accessibility, variety and affordability of healthy food choices would support the consumption of nutritious food in students.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer ANY SIX out of the seven questions given below.

i. What does the researcher mean by ‘changing food preferences’? 

ii. Why was this survey on the food consumption of adolescents undertaken? 

iii. With reference to fig.1, write one conclusion about students' consumption of energy-dense drinks.

FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED CANDIDATES

What do you understand by the term food frequency, as stated in lines 12-13?

iv. What can be concluded by the ‘no intake’ data of fruit consumption versus energy dense snacks, with reference to fig.1?

FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED CANDIDATES

Comment on the significance of incorporating food literacy concepts into student curriculum.

v. There were no gender differences observed in the consumption of healthy foods, according to the survey. Substantiate.

vi. Why is ‘affordability’ recommended as a significant feature of a school canteen policy?

vii. Identify a word from lines 9 - 18 indicating that the questionnaire was specifically designed to be completed by a respondent without the intervention of the researcher collecting the data. 

Answer 1

(i) Value Points: Urban population’s transition from healthy home-cooked meals to ready-to-eat-processed foods.

(ii) Value Points: understand the food consumption pattern of urban adolescents and make recommendations based on the data.

(iii) Value Points: Close to 47% drink three or more servings of energy dense beverages while a mere 5% said ‘no’ to more than one serving of the beverage.

FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED CANDIDATES

Value Points: Refers to the rate of intake of food and beverages (drinks) consumed over a specified period of time. It could even refer to portion size.

(iv) Value Points: Nearly half the respondents (45%) did not consume any servings of fruit in contrast to 95% that had some form of energy dense snack.

FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED CANDIDATES

Value Points: It is important because reading about the advantages of a healthy diet would assist an increased intake of fruits and vegetables in teenagers

(v) Value Points: Females had more nutritious dietary intake as they consumed more cereals, vegetables and fruits compared to their male counterparts.

(vi) Value Points: The consumers are school children and therefore food should be affordable.

(vii) Value Points: Self-administered.

Answer 2

(i) ‘Changing food preferences’ means that the urban population’s transition from healthy home-cooked meals to ready-to-eat-processed foods.

(ii) The survey was made to find out the food consumption pattern of urban adolescents and make recommendations based on the data.

(iii) Close to 47% drink three or more servings of energy-dense beverages while a mere 5% said ‘no’ to more than one serving of the beverage.