New study of Nordic eating habits - 05.05.2011

FOOD AND LIFESTYLE

Researchers from LIFE – The Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen and partners in Sweden, Norway and Finland now launch a large-scale sociological research project on eating habits in the Nordic countries.

 

The first of its kind in the world, the project will investigate how more flexible working hours, changing family relations, the development of new foods and demands for sustainability have impacted the way we eat today compared to ten years ago.

 

How changing living conditions and daily lives impact our eating habits is a central sociological question when, for example, you want to encourage the population to eat healthier or more sustainable foods.

 

Unique data from four countries

The project will be based on data from a similar study of eating habits undertaken by the four Nordic countries at the end of the 1990s. For the new project, the researchers will be repeating central parts of the earlier study to allow comparisons to be made over time. The data will provide us with a unique opportunity for studying the ways in which the food we eat and our eating habits are impacted by changes in society.

 

- Getting an idea about what has happened in the past ten years will be extremely interesting. Do we still come together for meals in intimate groups? Is our choice of food affected by demands for sustainability? Have we become more ‘Americanised’? Is the increase in overweight and obesity reflected in our eating patterns? What is special about this project is that it allows comparisons to be made between four countries based on data covering a long period of time. This is truly unique and has never been attempted before internationally, says Professor Lotte Holm from LIFE – The Faculty of Life Sciences, who heads the project.

 

The other project partners are the National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO) in Norway, University of Helsinki and the National Consumer Research Centre in Sweden.

The first project findings are expected to be published in a couple of years’ time. The project is funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (HOS-HS) and will run until 2014.

 

Contact

Professor Lotte Holm, Institute of Food and Resource Economics at LIFE – The Faculty of Life Sciences, mobile +45 27 29 06 02 or telephone +45 35 33 24 96.