Understanding Meal Choices in Young Adults and Interactions with Demographics, Diet Quality, and Health Behaviors: A Discrete Choice Experiment

Abstract

Background: Our understanding of meal choices is limited by methodologies that do not account for the complexity of food choice behaviors. Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) rank choices in a decision-making context. Objectives: This study aimed to rank the relative importance of influences on meal choices in young adults and examine interactions by subgroups. Methods: Adults (18-30 y) living in Australia were recruited via social media to complete an Internet-based DCE and survey. Participants were presented with 12 choice sets about a typical weekday meal, consisting of 5 attributes (taste, preparation time, nutrition content, cost, and quality). Diet quality (Dietary Guideline Index) was ..