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socio ecological model

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1. Introduction Over the years, there has been an increasing emphasis placed on encouraging Singaporeans to adopt a healthy eating lifestyle. This is evident from the recent launch of an iPhone app entitled “Healthy Chef” by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) in 2011 that provides healthy cooking recipes for Singaporeans. There is also the implementation of Healthier Hawker Programme which enlists the support of the hawkers to dish out healthier food choices for Singaporeans dining out. Despite all these efforts in place, the notion of adopting healthy eating lifestyle remains insignificant, especially amongst university students. This essay shall focus on examining the barriers to the adoption of healthy eating lifestyle amongst …show more content…

Foods laden with high fat, calorie and sodium content are commonly sold in the canteen and not many food vendors offer the option of organic food that has been deemed beneficial for our health. Coupled to that, the presence of convenience stores, vending machines and bookstores that offers highly processed foods, sodas and sweets within the vicinity of the lecture halls have made it more convenient for students to acquire these junk food. While university students are expected to exert control over their purchasing of unhealthy food, given the fact that they are mature to understand the implications of their dietary intake on their health, this assumption has been proven to be falsely true. A study conducted by Kleef, Otten, & Trijp (2012) found that university students make their decisions on the basis that the environment invokes many cues that influence their purchase. In other words, the presence of more unhealthy food stocked up on the shelves have compelled the individual to make purchase of it despite knowing that it is unhealthy for a meal. Consequently, it is evident that knowledge is insufficient to encourage students to adopt a healthy eating lifestyle. Rather, there needs to be more healthy food option offered on the shelves that could probably enhance their desirability and visibility for the

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