| |
|
Report on Food, Glorious Food
Smart girls decide for themselves™.
|
Food. We eat it, we love it, and we live for it. Loving food is probably one thing that all SmartGirls in the world have in common. However, we at SmartGirl have often wondered what foods SmartGirls enjoy most. What culinary delicacies send your taste buds into overdrive, and also, what foods bring them to a grinding halt? The results were extremely interesting, so sit back with your favorite dish - whether it be a plate of calamari or a simple turkey sandwich - and see what other SmartGirls are dining on!
|
Apparently food truly is a well-loved topic! In this survey a whopping 582 participants gave their opinions on their favorite and least-favorite dishes. Of the participants, 549 were girls, 16 boys, and 17 chose to remain anonymous. What's more, this survey truly was a global project. Numerous different countries were represented in this survey! Here is a list of just a few of the countries involved:
Samoa: 4 people
Brazil: 3 people
El Salvador: 1 person
Ireland: 16 people
Wales: 11 people
South Africa: 2 people
United Arab Emirates: 1 person
Zambia: 1 person
Canada: 32 people
Israel: 1 person
|
|
Now that we know a wide variety of SmartGirls from all over the world were involved in this survey, let's take a look at their eating habits. We asked SmartGirls how many meals they eat in a day. Let's take a look at what we discovered!
|
| How many meals do SmartGirls eat every day? |
|
| Three meals per day seems to be the majority! |
|
From this graph, we can see that the majority of SmartGirls who took the survey tend to eat around three meals a day, but some eat as many as more than six and some as few as one. It's important to remember that one person's idea of a meal might be different from another person's.
|
|
Now that we know how many meals SmartGirls are eating per day, let's take a look at what types of foods they are eating most!
|
| "What kinds of food do you eat?" |
|
| Apparently SmartGirls aren't too picky as long as the food is good! |
From this bar graph, we can see that though there are many SmartGirls who will eat just about anything, a substantial portion of SmartGirls are more selective. A fairly large amount of girls answered that they do not eat red meat or meat at all, so we thought it would be interesting to see how many have considered a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and to ask those who already are vegan or vegetarian why they chose to do so. When we asked SmartGirls if they would or have considered a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, these were the results we found:
I believe people are meant to eat meat: 16.08%
I believe these lifestyles are not healthy: 9.19%
I like the taste of meat: 20.49%
My family would not allow it: 3.36%
Maybe I would consider it: 29.51%
I am considering it now: 6.89%
I am planning on it now: 3.53%
I am vegetarian/vegan now: 10.95%
|
|
This table below describes the different reasons SmartGirls provided for being vegetarian or vegan.
|
| "If you are vegetarian/vegan, what is the reason?" |
|
|
count | percent |
whyveg2
|
| For emotional reasons |
26 | 5.88 |
| For practical reasons |
2 | 0.45 |
| I was raised vegetarian/vegan |
7 | 1.58 |
| For religious reasons |
4 | 0.9 |
| Because of diseases |
7 | 1.58 |
| Because of animal cruelty |
29 | 6.56 |
| To lose weight |
11 | 2.49 |
| It's better for the environment |
2 | 0.45 |
| It's healthier |
15 | 3.39 |
| I'm not vegetarian/vegan |
339 | 76.7 |
|
| Among SmartGirls who are vegetarian/vegan, emotions and concerns over animal cruelty seemed to be the biggest reasons. |
|
We all know that positive eating habits are integral to overall health. Since we know that there are so many different things to eat, we should look at SmartGirls' actual eating habits. Also, seeing as we know that different SmartGirls eat different amounts of meals per day, we thought it would be important to look at how SmartGirls view their own eating habits and practices. Are they eating healthy meals? Are people skipping meals? Are girls eating out a lot? What about schools? Do SmartGirls think that their cafeteria lunches are good for them? Let's take a look at what we found.
|
We all know that fast food is both easy to get to and easy to eat - it's called fast food, for crying out loud! However, there has been a great deal of controversy in recent years about the health content of fast food. We asked SmartGirls how often they go out to eat at a fast food restaurant and here's what they said!
35 (6.01%) said they never eat fast food
102 (14.53%) said they eat it a few times a year
206 (35.4%) said they eat it 1-2 times a month
120 (20.62%) said they eat it 3-4 times a month
95 (16.32%) said they eat it 2-3 times a week
12 (2.06%) said they eat it 4-5 times a week
12 (2.06%) said they eat it 6 or more times a week
|
| "Are restaurants making their menus healthier?" |
|
| It appears that most SmartGirls think that while restaurants may not be off to a great start, they are at least trying! |
Now that we know what SmartGirls think of fast food places, let's take a look at what you all had to say about your schools and the food they have to offer! When asked if your schools teach about proper nutrition, these were the answers SmartGirls came up with:
194 said that their schools teach it very well
173 said yes, but not very well
146 said no, their schools do not teach it
69 said that they do not know
|
| "How often do you bring your own lunch to school?" |
|
|
count | percent |
|
bringlnch
|
| never |
181 | 31.1 |
| few/yr |
82 | 14.09 |
| few/mo |
39 | 6.7 |
| 1/wk |
12 | 2.06 |
| 2/wk |
31 | 5.33 |
| 3/wk |
31 | 5.33 |
| 4/wk |
50 | 8.59 |
| everyday |
156 | 26.8 |
|
| From this table, we can see that more SmartGirls bring their lunches every day or not all! |
| "What do you think about the lunches offered at your school?" |
|
| It appears that most SmartGirls think their school lunches are pretty terrible! |
Now that we know how SmartGirls feel about fast food restaurants and the food available at their schools, let's take a look at how they feel about food in their own homes!
"How healthy do YOU think your diet is?"
48 said very healthy
196 said mostly healthy
227 said somewhat healthy
66 said not very healthy
20 said not healthy at all
|
|
Now that we know what SmartGirls think of their diets, let's see how they feel about skipping meals!
|
| "How often do you skip meals?" |
|
| Luckily, it looks like most girls aren't skipping meals and are getting the nutrition they need! |
|
Let's take a look at how much family has an impact on eating habits and compare that to how SmartGirls feel about their diets and skipping meals!
|
| "How often do you and your family discuss healthy eating habits?" |
|
| This graph shows that families mainly discuss eating habits only once in a while! |
|
We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so we asked SmartGirls what their favorite breakfast foods are!
|
| "What kinds of breakfast foods do you prefer?" |
|
|
count | percent |
|
bkfstpref
|
| cereal |
118 | 20.27 |
| bacon |
41 | 7.04 |
| eggs |
16 | 2.75 |
| hashbwns |
34 | 5.84 |
| pancakes |
57 | 9.79 |
| frtoast |
28 | 4.81 |
| bagel |
33 | 5.67 |
| toast |
29 | 4.98 |
| bkfstbar |
12 | 2.06 |
| fruit |
24 | 4.12 |
| oatmeal |
14 | 2.41 |
| pastry |
13 | 2.23 |
| watever |
85 | 14.6 |
| donteat |
78 | 13.4 |
|
| Looks like cereal is the winner! |
|
For some extra fun, we decided to ask girls about what kinds of foods they enjoy and what foods they dislike. Whether we're allergic to them, we don't like the texture, the color, whatever, we all have foods that make us less than happy to think about. Let's see what everyone had to say!
|
| "Are there any foods that you can't eat because of an allergic reaction or intolerance?" |
|
|
count | percent |
|
allergy
|
| milk |
50 | 7.68 |
| peanuts |
37 | 5.68 |
| egg |
22 | 3.38 |
| shellfish |
56 | 8.6 |
| soy |
27 | 4.15 |
| wheat |
14 | 2.15 |
| choc |
19 | 2.92 |
| corn |
9 | 1.38 |
| othernuts |
34 | 5.22 |
| none |
344 | 52.84 |
| fruit |
19 | 2.92 |
| medicines |
1 | 0.15 |
| vegetables |
10 | 1.54 |
| meats |
4 | 0.61 |
| chemical additives |
4 | 0.61 |
| other |
1 | 0.15 |
|
| Wow! It looks there are quite a few things SmartGirls can't eat! |
When asked what kinds of food SmartGirls loved to eat, the responses were overwhelming! We had 469 responses about tons of different types of food from all over the world! Here are just a few examples!
Haggis
Eel
Quiche
Paella
Seaweed
Calamari
Bouillabaisse
Crab Cakes
Lamb
Shark Fin Soup
Fried Mozzarella
Pickled Pigs' Feet
|
To wrap up, after talking about different eating habits, what kinds of food SmartGirls love to eat, what kinds of food SmartGirls are allergic to, and how their families and school impact their food choices, we thought it would be interesting to expand our perspective. There are many issues surrounding food and health in the world today. Here is an illustration of what SmartGirls think about one such important issue:
"There has been a lot of talk recently about an obesity crisis, particularly among young people, in the US, England, and other nations. Do you think there is a crisis? If so, do you have any ideas on the reasons behind it and how the situation can be improved?"
|
"I think that there are too many American kids who are overweight. People need to be aware of their diets and not stuff food into their mouths."
"Yes, I think there is a crisis because of all the junk and fast foods children eat. I think it can be solved if schools stop selling candies and chips to students during lunchtime. I don't see a reason for it; they're not healthy at all."
"Yes, in the long run. We are the future and we should be taking care of ourselves, but society puts a lot of pressure on young people; they expect so much, and set their standards too high. Most kids who are obese have eating disorders, which most likely have formed because of family problems or problems of other sorts. That's my voice."
|
"Yes, but I think if people eat healthier and exercise, then we could overcome it."
"Yes, I think parents should encourage their kids to eat healthier and exercise every day. Not because they aren't thin, only to be healthy."
"I think that we should be given food tokens by the government, or they should ban fast food outlets."
"I think obesity is a growing problem for kids and teens across the world. People have so much food available all the time and often don't realize that the couple sodas and bag of chips they consume while watching TV has as many calories as the dinner they ate. People need to be aware of what they eat--and why they eat it--in order to become healthier. America, as well as other nations, should start thinking about how much they eat and begin to eat more for nutrition and fuel rather than boredom and entertainment."
|
"I don't think that there really is a problem. Now, if you get to eating seven pieces of cake a day, then there is a problem. Other than that, I see no problem in people being happy the way they are. "
"I think that this needs to be stopped. I think one way of preventing obesity is to eliminate many of the unhealthy and fast foods. Also, I think school should place more emphasis on exercise."
" People aren't cooking their own meals anymore; they are buying pre-cooked ones from supermarkets. The situation could be improved by making sure food has fewer unnatural things in it like preservatives, colourings, and flavourings. Also, chickens and other animals need to be raised naturally and not pumped full of hormones."
|
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts
with us!
Please remember that all web-based polls
are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the
respondents to participate in the surveys.
All our surveys are anonymous; check out our privacy
policy. All data copyright 1996-2000.
|
|
