A qualitative investigation of adults’ perceived benefits, barriers and strategies for consuming milk and milk products

Abstract

Objective: Milk and milk products provide important nutrients and have been associated with numerous health benefits in addition to bone health, including a healthy weight and a reduction of risk for certain conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer. Nonetheless, consumption of milk and milk products has declined over the past two decades. A qualitative investigation of men’s and women’s outcome expectancies for, and facilitators and barriers to, consuming milk and milk products is an essential first step for the creation of theory-based messages for the consumption of milk and milk products. Design: Qualitative group interview study. Setting: Research was conducted at community centres in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Method: We undertook eight in-depth qualitative group interviews. Separate groups were conducted for men ( n = 20, Mage = 42 ± 6) and women ( n = 20, Mage = 38 ± 7) and adequate (≥2 servings/day) and under-consumers (<2 servings/day). The interview schedule, grounded in social cognitive theory, included questions probing participant’s perceptions of milk and milk products and strategies for meeting dietary recommendations for milk product consumption. Data were analysed using hierarchical content analysis. Results: Perception of contamination of milk and milk products was one of the most common barriers. Consuming milk and milk products as part of a routine and making plans to consume milk and combining milk and milk products with other foods emerged as common strategies from ensuring adequate consumption. Within these themes, gender differences were apparent. Conclusion: Messages promoting milk and milk product consumption should target consumers’ beliefs about the benefits of milk products and provide strategies for increasing their consumption.

Strategies for public health initiatives targeting dairy consumption in young children: a qualitative formative investigation of parent perceptions

“…Some parents believed these physical sensitivities to dairy products could be due to contamination of dairy products with hormones and antibiotics. Contamination of dairy products was a common barrier theme for all parents and has been reported previously in adults ranging from 18 to ≥60 years of age (25,33,34) . These findings are concerning for countries with strict hormone and antibiotic use regulations by dairy farmers, such as Canada.…”

Targeted Messages Increase Dairy Consumption in Adults: a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Sixteen items emphasized positive outcomes, while 5 items identified negative outcomes. The items were developed by drawing on the results of previous qualitative work examining perceived outcome expectations in regards to dairy consumption in adults aged 30-50 years of age [18]. Responses were scored on a 9-point scale from 1 (very unlikely) to 9 (very likely).…”

“…Separate messages were developed for men versus women in each of the five conditions given differences in outcome values and potential self-regulatory strategies reported by Jung and colleagues [18]. A total of 40 messages were created: Eight messages for each of the five conditions (four messages specific to men and four messages specific to women).…”

“…Targeted messages work to influence intentions and subsequent behavioral outcomes through SCT constructs [15,16]. In the context of dairy intake, perceived outcomes associated with dairy consumption, and subsequent dairy consumption, vary greatly between different subsets of the population [17][18][19]. As such, health messages aimed at increasing dairy consumption may be more effective if they highlight the particular outcomes salient to the targeted population of interest.…”

“…For example, older women consume dairy products primarily to prevent osteoporosis and improve bone health [17], while university-aged women consume dairy primarily for reasons related to taste, cost, convenience and weight control [19]. Not surprisingly, men and women aged 30-50 years have distinct beliefs regarding dairy as compared to both older and younger female populations [18]. Specifically, Jung and colleagues [18] reported that dairy consumption for adults between the ages of 30-50 years was largely influenced by a) understanding the health benefits of dairy, b) the opportunity to act as a healthy eating role model for their children, and c) beliefs regarding potential hormone and/or antibiotic contamination of milk products.…”