Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Food Fears: A National Survey On The Attitudes Of Australian Adults About The Safety And Quality Of Food, P. G. Williams, E. Stirling, N. Keynes

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A national telephone survey of a representative sample of 1200 Australian adults was conducted in March 2002 in order to identify the factors of greatest concern to consumers in relation to the safety and quality of food, to measure recent trends in views about hazards in the food supply, to explore beliefs about the safety of additives and to discover whether consumers use food labels to check for ingredients of concern. Forty five percent of Australians responded that they were more concerned about the safety and quality of food than they were five years previously, while only 5% were less …

The Illawarra Healthy Food Price Index. 1. Development Of The Food Basket, P. G. Williams, M. Reid, K. Shaw

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To define a basket of foods that could be used to monitor trends in the affordability of healthy food in the Illawarra region. Design A reference family of five was defined reflecting the population of the Illawarra region. A draft basket of foods was selected based on recommendations of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE), and using information on typical eating patterns from the 1995 National Nutrition Survey and data from local supermarket sales. Products were chosen to conform where possible to the National Heart Foundation guidelines for acceptability in the Pick the Tick food approval program. Seven …

The Illawarra Healthy Food Price Index. 2. Pricing Methods And Index Trends From 2000-2003, P. G. Williams, Y. James, J. Kwan

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To develop a method to monitor trends in the cost of the Illawarra Healthy Food Basket (IHFB) and report trends from 2000 to 2003.

Design Detailed instructions for the method of pricing the IHFB were developed and tested. The price of the IHFB was collected each year in September at a major supermarket, green grocer and butcher in five Illawarra suburbs, representing a range of socio-economic locations. Data on welfare payments available to the reference family, assuming all members were unemployed, were collected from staff of Centrelink.

Main outcome measures The average weekly cost of the IHFB, the Illawarra …

Diet And Metabolic Syndrome: Where Does Resistant Starch Fit In?, Linda C. Tapsell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Metabolic syndrome is a term linking the clinical profiles of some of the world’s major health problems today: obesity, heart disease and diabetes. It is predicated on dietary patterns, and particularly on the delivery of fuel. The effects may be seen first in the development of abdominal obesity and insulin resistance leading to type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease. This review examines the role resistant starch might play in the prevention and management of these conditions. Beginning with a definition of resistant starch, a critical review of the scientific literature is presented. Current knowledge suggests that resistant starch …

The Impact Of Different Types Of Incentives On Re-Enrolment Into Health Management Programs, Sandra C. Jones, Christina Hoang

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Australian Health Management Group (AHMG) offers disease- and risk-management programs for members, aimed at improving health status and reducing health care costs. As an incentive to re-enrol, members are posted a small gift upon receipt of their completed enrolment form. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the provision of an incentive has a measurable effect on re-enrolment rates. Members were allocated to one of three conditions: “gift”; “competition”; or “no incentive”. We found that the provision of an incentive resulted in an increase in re-enrolment rates, with little difference between the “competition” and “gift” conditions. …

What Can Change Blindness Tell Us About The Visual Processing Of Complex Objects?, Simone Keane, Stephen A. Palmisano

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Processing visual information about objects in our environment is an essential and widely used skill. However, recent research in change blindness suggests that humans are remarkably poor at detecting certain types of changes to objects. In particular, changes to the configuration of an object's parts are detected quicker and more accurately than changes to the shape of the parts or a switching of parts. The implication of this finding is that information regarding the layout or configuration of an object is better encoded than finer details, like part shape. The aim of the current study was to determine whether this …

Erythrocyte Biomarker-Based Validation Of A Diet History Method Used In A Dietary Intervention Trial, Craig S. Patch, Karen J Murphy, Jackie Mansour, Linda C. Tapsell, Barbara J. Meyer, Trevor A Mori, Manny Noakes, P Clifton, I Puddey, P Howe

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Functional Foods And Ingredients: Opportunities For Health And Profit, Linda C. Tapsell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods (NCEFF) is developing well with strategic research projects underway. This report outlines progress to date.

Jitter And Size Effects On Vection Are Immune To Experimental Instructions And Demands, Stephen A. Palmisano, Amy Y. Chan

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Both coherent perspective jitter and explicit changing-size cues have been shown to improve the vection induced by radially expanding optic flow. The current study examined whether these stimulus-based vection advantages could be modified by altering cognitions/expectations about both the likelihood of self-motion perception and the purpose of the experiment. In the main experiment, participants were randomly assigned into two groups – one where the cognitive conditions biased participants towards self-motion perception and another where the cognitive conditions biased them towards object motion perception. Contrary to earlier findings by Lepecq et al (1995), we found that identical visual displays were less …

Using A Taxonomy Of Errors As A Conceptual Framework For Differences In Patterns Of Use For Casual And Novice Users, Jocelyn R. Harper, Peter Caputi, Rohan Jayasuriya, Shae-Leigh C. Vella, P. Hyland

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A taxonomy of errors was applied in a recent study of casual and novice users of a statistical analysis software. The taxonomy was found to be useful and several extensions to the taxonomy were proposed. The aim of this study is to confirm the theoretical validity of the proposed extensions and the usefulness of the taxonomy in describing the patterns of human-computer interaction and predicting changes in use patterns with learning.

Individual Differences In Anticipated Emotions, Desires And Intentions In Approaching A Computer Task, Jocelyn R. Harper, Peter Caputi, Rohan Jayasuriya

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Research on user training has drawn on psychological theory to understand individual differences effects. An extension of the Model of Goal-directed Behaviour (MGB) was used to test the role of Personality variables, Computer self-efficacy and Computer anxiety as antecedents of anticipated emotions, goal desires and intentions. Positive anticipated emotions were demonstrated to intervene in the relation between Computer self efficacy and goal desires.

An Exploratory Study Of Older Adults' Perceptions Of Dtca For Prescription Medications, Sandra C. Jones, Judy Mullan

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There are many arguments for and against Direct-To-Consumer-Advertising (DTCA) and their impact on the consumer. A study involving 97 older consumers was carried out to investigate their perceptions about long or short versions of written DTCA for arthritis or diabetes medication. The results indicate that even though the ads may improve doctor-patient discussion about medications, they would not necessarily empower them to make decisions. Some of the consumers also believed that DTCA might cause people to ask for inappropriate medicines, become confused and possibly stop seeking medical advice.

An Exploratory Study On The Effect Of Positive (Warmth Appeal) And Negative (Guilt Appeal) Print Imagery On Donation Behaviour In Animal Welfare, M. Haynes, Jennifer Thornton, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Very few studies in social marketing empirically compare the effectiveness of positive and negative appeals. This study examines the effect of positive (warmth appeal) and negative (guilt appeal) print imagery on donation behaviour to an animal welfare organisation. A quasiexperimental design was used to test the appeals, using a convenience sample of 282 university students, with each experimental group being exposed to only one type of appeal. The results indicated that negative imagery which evoked guilt was more effective than positive imagery which evoked warmth, on intention to donate money and time to the animal welfare organisation.

The Influence Of Magazine Advertising On Parents' Nutrition Ratings Of Food Products For Children, Christina Hoang, Sandra C. Jones, Jennifer Thornton

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Childhood obesity currently affects approximately 22 million children under the age of five worldwide (Rochinni, 2002) and its increasing prevalence in developed nations makes it one of the most common nutritional problems among children (Sorof and Stephen, 2002). A study was conducted to investigate parents’ health-related perceptions for a series of magazine advertisements for commonly advertised and popular children’s food products. The study revealed that confusion exists among parents and this was most evident in relation to the energy content of food products. Parents are important due to the instrumental role they play in their child’s nutrition - both as …