Culinary Crossroads: Addressing Time, Convenience, and Identity as roots of health inequalities in the Glasgow diet
Supervisors:
Professor Emilie Combet , School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
Professor Cindy Gray , School of Social & Political Sciences
Dr David Blane , School of Health & Wellbeing
Summary:
This PhD project explores the complex interplay between convenience, time (scarcity, cognitive load), culinary connection, and food identity as drivers of health inequalities in Glasgow's food system. Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory as a framework, the research will adopt a place-based approach to examine how socioeconomic factors influence diet-related health outcomes across urban populations.
The study will employ mixed methods to assess individuals' and households' relationships with food, focusing on procurement, preparation, and consumption patterns.
Specifically, dietary intake and food security assessment will be carried out, alongside contextual assessment of relationships with food via surveys and assessment of nutritional status and health markers. Qualitative interviews will explore the links between diet identity, culture, and the concept of convenience and their contribution to health inequalities in the food system.
The student will gain comprehensive training in survey design, laboratory skills, dietary assessment techniques, qualitative methods, data management, and stakeholder engagement. This approach will facilitate a nuanced understanding of diet-related health inequalities in Glasgow. This is particularly timely in the context of the cost-of-living crisis, its impact on diets, and continued polarised discussions about the place of food processing in a food system sustaining the health of people and the planet.