Suppose you are in a restaurant with friends and they all decide to go for the vegetarian burger. Are you then the only one to choose a meat dish or do you also opt for a vegetarian meal? This is one of many situations where social relationships influence the food choices we make. “But what does that look like? By whom do young adults allow themselves to be influenced, and in what ways? That is what I'm curious about,” says Van den Broek enthusiastically.
In previous research, Van den Broek followed young people in their first four years of secondary school. Her question at the time was: Who has more influence on diet: parents or friends? “While I expected the influence of friends to increase over time, that was not what I found, and on average, parents still had the biggest influence on young people's food choices.”
Of course, there are more people than parents and friends who can positively or negatively influence a person's food choices. This ranges from neighbours or teachers to sports trainers. Plus, these social influences can vary enormously between young people. “In previous research, our research team chose to zoom in on specific social relationships, but now young adults themselves can report which relationships are important to them. In other words, they get to decide who matters.”
100-day food diary
The young adults will be doing this by keeping a food diary with their key social relations for 100 days. It has not yet been decided what exactly they will be tracking. “I want to get together to discuss a form that makes sense for the diaries. Of course we will be asking young adults what they eat on a daily basis, and with whom, but I’m particularly curious about what they themselves think are logical questions. Consider the influence of social media. Maybe there are highly influential TikTokkers helping young people improve their nutrition.”
Van den Broek's research focuses specifically on young adults aged between 16 and 25. “We call this the period of emerging adulthood. At this stage of life, young adults are more likely to become more overweight. At the same time, they are open to change, and especially after they move out to live on their own, they get more space to determine their own diet.”
In this context, Van den Broek is aiming to interview at least 60 young adults. “I hope for as diverse a composition as possible. It could be that most of the young adults who sign up already make a lot of sustainable food choices, but I’m also really curious to hear the stories of young adults who are less or not at all occupied with food and nutrition. The differences between young adults still living at home and those living on their own also interest me, as do the differences between young people in cities and villages.”
Doing research together
Although Van den Broek will be spending the next two years first working on designing and conducting her research study, she is already thinking about how to turn her results into concrete tools. “The research results can help dietitians, for example, to better help their patients. Healthy food choices are hard to maintain in a social environment where less healthy choices are encouraged. By involving people from the person's environment in the process, you may be able to achieve better results in the long run.”
In creating these interventions, Van den Broek will also be seeking advice from the young people themselves. This is in line within a new movement in the social sciences whereby research is less about a specific group of people, but is increasingly done together with them. “Researchers used to have participants fill in a questionnaire, and then send them home. Nowadays, we take participants, in this case young adults, more seriously. There should also be something in it for them, because the study is ultimately meant to help them.”