A Qualitative Exploration of Drivers of
Eating Habits in Young Australian Men
Eleanor
1
1
Capel ,
Danielle
1
Gallegos
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
danielle.gallegos@qut.edu.au
Introduction
Methods
Australian men’s health status is poor, with a lower life expectancy than
women and higher chronic disease risk due in part to poorer dietary
habits.
• Australian men under 30 years of age
• Living out of home in Brisbane, Queensland
• 11 manual labour workers (‘blue collar’)
• 9 office-based workers (‘white collar’)
Previous studies and sociological theories have:
• linked gender norms around food and masculine ideals to men’s eating
patterns; and
• aligned these forms of masculinity with certain occupations.
This study sought to explore the drivers of young, Australian men’s diets,
the link to ideas of masculinity and occupation groups to assist in the
development of strategies to support healthier eating habits in this
population.
Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted, where the
participants discussed their food culture, influential drivers of their eating
habits as well as answering a series of short dietary questions. These
interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim.
Initially, the transcripts were independently open coded. Axial coding
was undertaken, where codes were examined at a more conceptual
level and categories were identified. From a constructivist perspective,
emergent themes were entirely derived from the interview data.
Results
Twenty men were interviewed ranging in age from 19 to 30 years of age living in a variety of relationships and living situations including: living alone, with
friends, siblings, partners, wives and/or children.
Men Can Cook
A move away from the traditional masculine
ideal and traditional gender roles of cooking
with some men.
Feed the Man Meat
A tendency towards gendered food types with a
tendency towards meat-based meals with
barbecuing still resonating.
Give the Man a Routine
A tendency to focus on healthy eating only
when undertaking a regular exercise program.
Gyms influence eating patterns.
“.... I think the typical Aussie
male a while ago was probably
someone who didn’t really give
a shit about what they ate or
what they looked like. But I think
that that’s changed, it’s changed
in that way. They care about
themselves and the way they
look more so nowadays.”
(White Collar Worker, 27 years)
“It’s not unusual for men to cook
these days... (When I cook) I
work everything around the
meat. Apart from when (my
girlfriend) makes a vege bake or
something, I would not eat a
main meal without some form of
meat.”
(Blue Collar Worker, 24 years)
“When I’m trying to get fit, like
every couple of months, um, then I
try and eat as healthily as I possibly
can. And that sort of all comes back
to when work is a bit easier and
you’ve got a little bit more time to
do a bit of exercise... and try to eat
well with it”. (White Collar Worker,
28 years)
“my grandad said that if you can’t
cook and look after yourself then
you’re not a man...” (Blue Collar
Worker, 22 years)
“Like I don’t like to cook
everything, I’m not that good with
cakes and biscuits and things. But
roasting, I can do that. And
barbecuing - I’ve got the barbecue
down pat...I can cook meat,
meat’s easy. Roasted vegetables,
no worries. But like boiling and
steaming....eughhh” (White Collar
Worker, 28 years)
“I guess like trying to get fitter
(helps me to eat healthily)..Like,
you know, I’ll try and go to the
gym more so I’ll try to improve my
eating habits to complement that.”
(Blue Collar Worker, 22 years)
What health message?
Little recognition of or interest in population
health messages.
“I probably would (think of healthy
eating messages as applying to
me), but I probably wouldn’t care.”
(Blue Collar Worker, 19 years)
“I don’t think I’ve ever counted how
many serves of anything I’ve
(eaten)...” (White Collar Worker, 23
years)
Discussion and Conclusion
Findings from this study indicated that young Australian men do not adhere to perceived social norms or masculine ideals associated with different
occupation groups. This idea of changing masculinities and the emergence of ‘multiple masculinities’ is verified by previous literature. Despite this,
elements of the traditional masculine ideal still appeared to resonate therefore gender norms around food still appear relevant. Population health
messages appear to have little traction with this group but opportunities for effective health promotion may exist in men’s places of exercise or work.
Further research in this area should be done to substantiate effective health promotion strategies to improve health outcomes for men, leading to a
decreased burden on the healthcare system.