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Awareness of Climate Change and the Dietary Choices of Young Adults in Finland: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 5, p e97480 (2014)
- Publication Year :
- 2014
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2014.
-
Abstract
- Climate change is a major public health threat that is exacerbated by food production. Food items differ substantially in the amount of greenhouse gases their production generates and therefore individuals, if willing, can mitigate climate change through dietary choices. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study to assess if the understanding of climate change, concern over climate change or socio-economic characteristics are reflected in the frequencies of climate-friendly food choices. The study population comprised 1623 young adults in Finland who returned a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 64.0%). We constructed a Climate-Friendly Diet Score (CFDS) ranging theoretically from −14 to 14 based on the consumption of 14 food items. A higher CFDS indicated a climate-friendlier diet. Multivariate linear regression analyses on the determinants of CFDS revealed that medium concern raised CFDS on average by 0.51 points (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.03, 0.98) and high concern by 1.30 points (95% CI 0.80, 1.80) compared to low concern. Understanding had no effect on CFDS on its own. Female gender raised CFDS by 1.92 (95% CI 1.59, 2.25). Unemployment decreased CFDS by 0.92 (95% CI −1.68, −0.15). Separate analyses of genders revealed that high concern over climate change brought about a greater increase in CFDS in females than in males. Good understanding of climate change was weakly connected to climate-friendly diet among females only. Our results indicate that increasing awareness of climate change could lead to increased consumption of climate-friendly food, reduction in GHG emissions, and thus climate change mitigation.
- Subjects :
- Male
Atmospheric Science
Cross-sectional study
Epidemiology
Social Sciences
010501 environmental sciences
Global Health
01 natural sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Sociology
Environmental protection
Surveys and Questionnaires
Food choice
Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychology
Public and Occupational Health
030212 general & internal medicine
Finland
2. Zero hunger
Climatology
education.field_of_study
Multidisciplinary
Socioeconomic Aspects of Health
3. Good health
Research Design
Population study
Medicine
Female
Research Article
Clinical Research Design
Science
Climate Change
Population
Climate change
Biology
Research and Analysis Methods
Diet Surveys
03 medical and health sciences
Food Preferences
Young Adult
Environmental health
Humans
education
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Nutrition
Demography
Behavior
Survey Research
Global warming
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Biology and Life Sciences
Confidence interval
Health Care
Climate change mitigation
Survey Methods
Cross-Sectional Studies
Attitude
Socioeconomic Factors
13. Climate action
Public Opinion
People and Places
Earth Sciences
Linear Models
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9890d136b91a4a866bbdd1c0b7dbc90f