Evaluating the Influence of Nutrition Determinants on Construction Workers’ Food Choices

Abstract

Nutritional knowledge as well as economic, social, biological, and cultural factors have been known to determine an individual's food choices. Despite the existence of research on the factors which influence nutrition globally, there is little known about the extent to which these factors influence the food choices of construction workers, which in turn influence their health and safety during construction activities. The present article investigates the extent to which construction workers' nutrition is influenced by nutritional knowledge, as well as economic, environmental, social, psychological, and physiological factors. A field questionnaire survey was conducted on site construction workers in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Principal components analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that consumption of foods termed alternative foods including dairy products, eggs, nuts, fish, and cereals, was influenced by nutritional knowledge and resources. Foods termed traditional core foods were influenced by cultural background; foods termed secondary core foods comprising fruits and vegetables were influenced by economic factors, resources, and cultural background; while foods termed core foods were mostly influenced by nutritional knowledge. By providing evidence of the factors which most influence selection and consumption of certain foods by construction workers, relevant nutrition interventions will be designed and implemented, taking cognizance of these factors.

Masculinities in the construction industry: A double‐edged sword for health and wellbeing?

“…Previous research has found connections between masculinity and poor health and lifestyle within the construction industry (Stergiou‐Kita et al, ), for example, relating to diet (McGlone & Baker, ; Okoro, Musonda, & Agumba, ) and mental health (Milner, Witt, Burnside, Wilson, & LaMontagne, ). Given that ‘males in the construction industry are at greater risk of suicide than those in the general working population’ (Milner et al, , p. 1), some of the health outcomes can be extremely serious.…”

Validity and reliability of a questionnaire developed to explore nutrition determinants among construction workers in Gauteng, South Africa

“…Some of the results presented here have been presented in previous studies by the authors. 14,29 However, the current paper focuses on the validity and reliability of the research instrument developed and presents additional data that were useful in improving and refining the scale.…”

“…10,11 Other studies have had a broad scope and employed qualitative methods 12,13 and, more recently, a relationship between nutrition determinants and particular choices of food among construction workers was explored in South Africa. 14 Further, validated models of food-choice motives exist. [15][16][17][18][19] However, the factor structures evinced in these studies do not necessarily cater for or reflect the most important factors in other cultures and might have different connotations across different populations and cultures.…”

“…18,19 Therefore, there may be other important factors that existing food-choice models are not addressing or indeed more appropriate questions within each factor, which makes their applicability limited in cross-cultural situations. 14,16 Moreover, these factor structures have not been explored among construction workers in South Africa and indeed Africa as a whole. The current paper incorporates all factors that could possibly influence construction workers' food choices to develop a theoretical framework of food-choice factors and explore the underlying constructs using principal components analysis.…”

“…The theories on which the factors were based were extensively discussed in a previous publication by the authors. 14 The current study is differentiable from the extant publication because the previous one evaluated the extent of the influence of nutrition determinants on the food choices of construction workers, whereas the present one is based solely on the process of developing and validating the questionnaire used for the research. The succeeding sections present the methods adopted as well as the results.…”