Connectedness to nature and its association with food choice motives among primary health care professionals

Abstract

Connectedness to nature can boost well-being and lead to healthier and more sustainable food choices. Health professionals have the potential to be key agents in promoting environmental health. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 146 primary healthcare professionals to determine the association betweennature connectedness and food choicemotives considered important for human and environmental health. We used the 14-item Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) and the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), consisting of 36 items distributed between nine factors, including “health”, “natural content”, and “ethical concern”. The average CNS score was 53.8 (± 9). The highest scoring factors of the FCQ were sensory appeal and price.Ethical concern was ranked last. There was a significant positive association between degree of nature connectedness and scoring for the factors health (p = 0.031), natural content (p = 0.001), and ethical concern (p <0.001). The results of this unprecedented studyshow that increased connectedness to nature may lead to healthier and more sustainable food choices.