Childhood Experiences and Sporting Event Visitors' Preference for Unhealthy versus Healthy Foods: Priming the Route to Obesity?

Abstract

To date, there is little knowledge about how experiences in childhood frame adults' food and drink consumption patterns in the context of attending sporting events as spectators. Therefore, the goal of this study was to explore the childhood memories of adults when they visited sporting events and find out whether and why this particular setting makes individuals indulge in unhealthy food. The study comprises two components: Study 1 and Study 2. In Study 1, 30 individuals recalled their childhood experiences of sport stadium visits at the age of ten years or younger. Inductive coding of the stories revealed that on-site enjoyment is an important factor that may lead to unhealthy food consumption. In Study 2 (n = 240), the effect of enjoyment on the intentions to eat unhealthy versus healthy food at sporting events was tested empirically and contrasted with two other leisure-time activities. The results of the experiment revealed that it is not enjoyment, but the visit to sporting or music events (versus a flea market) that increased the preference for unhealthy versus healthy foods. Implications to decrease (increase) the preference for unhealthy (healthy) food in these particular settings against the background of childhood experiences can be drawn.

Keywords: childhood memories; food consumption; food healthiness; music events; out-of-home eating; sport games; sport spectators; sporting events.

Figure 1

Intention to indulge in unhealthy foods versus healthy foods depending on the five experimental conditions: visit to a sporting event (low and high enjoyment), visit to a music event (low and high enjoyment), and visit to a flea market (low enjoyment only).