HBS108 Assignment: Health Information and Data Evaluation

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This assignment, completed for the HBS108 course at Deakin University, focuses on sourcing, identifying, and evaluating evidence related to health information and data. The student analyzes data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and other sources to examine factors influencing access to healthy foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, across different socioeconomic groups. The assignment addresses questions about dietary guidelines, consumption patterns, and the impact of individual and societal factors on eating behaviors. It also explores research methodologies, including mixed methods approaches, and investigates the influence of socioeconomic status on access to fresh produce. The student uses search terms to find relevant articles and discusses strategies for improving access to healthy foods, drawing on recommendations from various organizations. The assignment covers several key areas, including dietary habits, socioeconomic disparities, and the role of public health initiatives in promoting healthier eating patterns. The student also analyzes studies related to the use of smartphone apps to increase vegetable consumption, highlighting the importance of factors such as motivation, opportunity, and capability in influencing dietary choices. Finally, the assignment includes a critical evaluation of research methodologies and ethical considerations in health research, focusing on informed consent and the protection of participant opinions.

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HBS108: Sourcing, Identifying and Evaluating Evidence Using Health
Information and Data.
Name
ID
Institution
Professor
Date
1
Task A:
Q.[1(i)] According to National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC] (2013), the
construct was measured following the criteria listed below:
 A balanced diet that includes fruit and vegetables (NHMRC 2013).
 Minimum number of 2 servers of fruit and 6 serves for vegetables, but dependent of age
and sex (NHMRC 2013).
 To measure how sufficient the consumption is, a daily report of a respondent is checked
on the basis of either meeting or exceeding the recommendations (NHMRC 2013).
(ii)
In the analysis carried out by Australian Bureau of statistics [ABS] (2017 -18), results
show that only half of the adult Australians met the guidelines of 2 or more fruit serves.
However, for the 5-6 vegetable serves per day, the proportion was quite low at only 7.5% (ABS
2017-18). Thus, the likelihood is still low.
Observing the difference between men and men, the likelihood chance for meeting it is
higher for the women than men. A difference of 9.2% (ABS 2017-18) more men than women is
accounted for.

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(iii)
At a 51.8%, the first quintile in the index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage had the
highest proportion of persons with inadequate fruit consumption. Still the first quintile
recorded a 94.0% proportion of inadequate vegetable consumption.
(iv)
The first quintile depicts 51.8% of inadequate fruit consumption translating to a greater
advantage in general (ABS 2017-18). For the daily vegetable consumption, there is a higher
advantage of 94.0% for the first quintile.
However, the fifth quintile had a 45% index of inadequate fruit consumption hence greater
disadvantage. Looking at the consumption of vegetables, it is still the fifth quintile that records
a higher disadvantage index. This has been shown well in Table 1 in the appendix section.
Q.[2(i)]
 At individual level, factors that interplay in one’s eating behaviors include: -
 Individuals preference,
 Cultural beliefs,
 Knowledge,
 Skills,
 Other perceived barriers just to mention a few (VicHealth 2018, p.7).
 Based on Australian Health Survey (ABS 2014), the number of actual serves for males
aged 19-50years is at 6.4, whereas the recommended serves should be nil. Similar to

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women aged 19-50 years, there is an actual intake of 4.2 serves while the recommended
amount should also be zero.
(ii) Food choice in the disadvantage background is influenced by the following factors.
 A perception of high cost of nutrient-rich foods (Williams et al. 2012).
 Poor availability
 Low personal food skills
 Shallow knowledge of food and nutrition
 Difficulty in accessing healthy food choices
Q.[3(i)]
 About 95% of the adult population ("4364.0.55.012 - Australian Health Survey:
Consumption of Food Groups from the Australian Dietary Guidelines, 2011-12" 2019;
Hendrie et al. 2019, p. 3).
 A sample of 1068 participants was acquired for the study.
(ii) The outcome was: -
 Only less than 4% of adults were found to be consuming enough vegetables and fruits.
(iii)
 The researchers here required an informed consent in their research.

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 As seen, clearly, there was a need to obtain an autonomous participant level so that the
food habits (Vegetable and Fruits intake) would be gauged with accuracy.
(iv)
It can be seen that not only cost alone a factor contributing to observing a healthy diet. Looking
at behavior, we find that Motivation and Opportunity record a lower percentage of responses
as compared to Capability. Also, tendency of people to reply to their feedback on the app is
quite low in terms of interest (ranging from 9% to 28%).
Q.[4(i)] The article employs use of mixed methods research, as it entails the use of both
qualitative and quantitative research at the same time in different stages.
Features such as being inductive and deductive, subjective and objective at the same time
makes it mixed method research. The research question is also a hypothesis to test at the same
time.
(ii)
 Respecting participants’ opinions
 Observing the principle of beneficence
(iii)

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Task B:
Q.[5(i)]
 Does access to fresh fruit and vegetables in Australian households differ depending on
the socio-economic status.
(ii)
 To characterize dietary experiences of VegEze app users with an age ranging from 20-
90yrs based on their feedback.
Task C:
Q.[6] Selecting the research hypothesis in Question 5(i).
(i) Wiley Online Library and PubMed
(ii) The following search terms were used to access the article: -
 Socioeconomic
 Access
 Fruit

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 Vegetables
 Households.
 Just to mention but a few.
(iii)
 Crawford, B, Byun, R, Mitchell, E, Thompson, S, Jalaludin, B & Torvaldsen, S 2017,
"Socioeconomic differences in the cost, availability and quality of healthy food in
Sydney", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 567-
571 (Crawford et al. 2017).
(iv)
Dietary needs have been influenced greatly by the socio-economic factors in the recent times.
Some of the recommendations to be put in place include the following: -
 A collaboration between government, stakeholders and all economic sectors to make it
easier for physical, social, cultural and financial access to healthy foods for all (VicHealth
2016).

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Reference List.
Bhattacherjee, A 2019, Research methods for social sciences.
Crawford, B, Byun, R, Mitchell, E, Thompson, S, Jalaludin, B & Torvaldsen, S 2017,
"Socioeconomic differences in the cost, availability and quality of healthy food in
Sydney", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 567-571.
Hendrie, G, James-Martin, G, Williams, G, Brindal, E, Whyte, B & Crook, A 2019, "The
Development of VegEze: Smartphone App to Increase Vegetable Consumption in Australian
Adults", JMIR Formative Research, vol. 3, no. 1, p. e10731.
NHMRC – see National Health and Medical Research Council
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), 2013. Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council.
<https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines>; last accessed 25/07/2019
VicHealth 2018, VicHealth Healthy Eating Strategy 2017–2019, VicHealth, Melbourne
Appendix.
For Q1(iv)

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Index of Relative Socio-Economic
Disadvantage(l)
Daily consumption of fruit and vegetables(g)
Inadequate fruit
consumption
Inadequate vegetable
consumption
First quintile 51.8% 94.0%
Second quintile 50.1% 92.2%
Third quintile 49.8% 93.1%
Fourth quintile 47.3% 91.9%
Fifth quintile 45.0% 91.8%
Table 1: Data extracted from ABS: table 6.3 (ABS 2017-18).
For Q6
“Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To compare the cost of a basket of staple foods, together with the availability and quality of
fresh fruit and vegetables, by supermarket store type in high and low socioeconomic suburbs
of Sydney.

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METHODS:
A food basket survey was undertaken in 100 supermarkets in the 20 highest and 20
lowest socioeconomic suburbs of Sydney. We assessed the cost of 46 foods, the range of 30
fresh fruit and vegetables and the quality of ten fresh fruit and vegetables. Two major
supermarket retailers, a discount supermarket chain and independent grocery stores were
surveyed.
RESULTS:
The food basket was significantly cheaper in low compared to high socioeconomic suburbs
($177 vs $189, p<0.01). Discount supermarkets were at least 30% cheaper than other
supermarket stores. There were fewer varieties and poorer quality fruit and vegetables in
stores in low socioeconomic suburbs.
CONCLUSIONS:
Food basket prices and the availability and quality of fruit and vegetables varied significantly by
store type and socioeconomic status of suburb. Implications for public health: A
nationwide food and nutrition surveillance system is required to inform public health policy and
practice initiatives. In addition to the food retail environment, these initiatives must address the
underlying contributors to inequity and food insecurity for disadvantaged groups.
© 2017 The Authors.
KEYWORDS:
Healthy food retail; health inequities; nutrition monitoring
PMID: 28712112

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DOI: 10.1111/1753-6405.12694 “

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