Article Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Article Critique - Essay Example Purpose of the research The research sought to establish the factors from the SCT standpoint that influence the consumption behaviour of fruits and vegetables among the adolescents in the low-income bracket of the black Americans in the lower Mississippi Delta region. Personal, environmental as well as behavioural factors have been investigated in the study to establish the extent to which they influence the consumption patterns of fruits and vegetables by the targeted adolescents. Method of the research This qualitative research used the focus group methodology to collect data from the participants. 42 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 13 years were involved in the focus groups which were divided equally into six. 21 female and 21 male adolescents were involved in this study. The advantage of this method is that it enabled the researcher to get personal opinions from the participants about the factors that influenced their consumption behaviour and patterns of fruits and vegeta bles. Results of the research The results of the research have been divided into three main categories of the Social Cognitive Theory which include behavioural, personal and environmental factors. ... Personal factors such as taste played a major role in influencing the consumption behaviour of fruits and vegetables among the youths who participated in the survey. There were both negative and positive connotations about the taste of fruits and vegetables. For instance, many youths revealed that they like fruits because of their sweet taste while the taste of vegetables produced more negative reactions. Many youths described the taste of vegetables as â€Å"nasty† and they said that they would rather prefer to eat vegetables that have been prepared with sugar or cheese since these ingredients could improve the taste. The results of the study also revealed that environmental factors have an influence on the consumption behaviour of fruits and vegetables by the youths. The aspect of availability played a major role in influencing the behaviour of youths towards fruits and vegetables. Many participants pointed out that fruits and vegetables were not readily available at their h omes as well as the nearby grocery shops. Some of the youths said they ate fruits and vegetables when they visit their friends’ places. This showed that the youths cannot be able to consume something they cannot readily access and this is seen as a barrier to their consumption behaviour of the fruits and vegetables. Conclusion of the research The purpose of this research was to explore factors that influence the low-income southern black American adolescents' fruit and vegetable consumption patterns with the aim of developing tools that are culturally relevant for intervention and measurement of behaviour among this target group with regards to choice of fruits and