"What I am supposed to eat?": nutritional messaging in an inner-city Integrative Medicine clinic

Abstract

Public health experts have developed education campaigns based on nutritional messaging to alleviate illnesses related to unhealthy food consumption. This thesis examines cultural factors affecting the accessibility of such messaging, such as economic status, ethnicity, role in the family, access to transportation and markets, and familiarity with the topics of messaging. I explore how these variables affect learning and applying new nutrition knowledge in an individual's daily life. The methods used were semi-structured interviews (n=10) and participant observations conducted in an Integrative Medicine clinic at an urban hospital.