Banana Cake Essay

Greetings, my fellow visitors, today, I would like to recommend a few local dishes which you might want to indulge yourself while you are here. Firstly, I would like to recommend you an intercontinental dish known as†¦ Chilli Crab Chilli Crab, also known as Singapore’s unofficial â€Å"national dish† is cooked in various ways. The most common style is done with chilli and sweet-sour sauce ribboned with beaten egg. My favourite way and probably the most common, is to eat it with French bread or Chinese buns called Mantou to help you soak every last drop of delicious sauce. I strongly recommend all of you to try this dish as it is by far the best seafood dish in Singapore. Secondly, I would like to recommend to you the famous Chinese dish†¦ Fried Hokkien Mee You can easily imagine, from this description, how good this dish tastes! Egg noodles and rice vermicelli otherwise known locally as bee hoon, stir-fried with pork, prawn, squid, bean sprouts and loads of garlic, and then braised in a rich pork and prawn stock. The dish is served steaming hot and garnished with fresh lime and a dollop of spicy chilli sambal. Alive with the pungencies of both China and Southeast Asia, Fried Hokkien Mee is one of the favourite Singapore dishes. Now, I would like to recommend a unique dish eaten by all races. This dish is none other than†¦ Mee Rebus Translated into English, this dish means simply ‘boiled noodles’ — but the dish is anything but simple. It is yellow egg noodles in thick, spicy, slightly sweet gravy, garnished with boiled eggs, sliced green chilies, fried cubes of beancurd, and fresh lime. Some people add a dash of dark soy sauce as a finishing touch†¦. Just like our multiracial society, Mee rebus is a fine example of a fusion cuisine. The egg noodles, beancurd and dark soy sauce are Chinese touches, while the gravy speaks of combined influences from Indian and Malay cuisine, with its curry-like flavour and use of dried shrimp and tamarind. Last but not least, I would like to recommend the traditional Indian dish†¦ ? Roti Prata A dough-based flat pancake that is cooked by heating over a flat grill plate. Roti prata is commonly served with either vegetable or fish curries, but it is not unusual to see it being eaten plain with white large-grain sugar. Prata-making has been refined to such an art that if you’re lucky, you’ll sometimes see cooks get theatrical with the flipping and turning of the prata as it’s being cooked over the plate.

Marketing Logistics Services

Human beings act artificially when they are targeted for marketing research. This could affect the accuracy of the project. 5. To obtain information about the role-played by various media in spreading awareness about the service. Research methodology Research methodology is the way to solve the research problems systematically. It explains the various steps generally adopted by a researcher in studying research problems along with the logic behind them. Research Approach Researcher has followed survey method as the research approach in this study. Survey research is the best suited method for descriptive information.Research Design Type of research: Descriptive Research Data sources: Primary The primary data has been collected through interviewer schedules. Secondary data has been collected with respect to information regarding the company profile, industry profile and other related documents. Sampling technique : simple random sampling Sample size of respondents : 180 The population of sample is unknown because we can’t calculate the how many customer using the professional couriers per day and the area of study is Visakhapatnam. Research instrumentA structured non-disguised interviewer schedule was developed as a research instrument. Open ended, closed ended, dichotomous, ranking and rating scales were used in the questionnaire. Pilot Study: Before the interviewer schedule is administered in to the field, it needs to be pre-tested. The sample that the interviewer schedule is administered in the pre-test should be roughly ssimilar to those who will be covered in the study. A pre-test was done to collect among 8 customers and necessary adjustments were made depending upon the effectiveness of the response.Then the final questionnaire was drafted based on the feedback. Then this revised from of the questionnaire was used in the survey of the proposed sample population. Data collection: The method of data collection was through Customers: The required data was collected through personal interview and the Researcher designed a simple questionnaire for this purpose and administered in person to the samples. Data is the foundation of the all researches and they are the raw materials with which a researcher functions. Depending on the source, data can be classified as primary data and secondary data.Primary Data: Data gathered for the first time by researcher is known as primary data. This data was collected through consumer survey. This data was collected by a person through survey techniques. Survey research is the systematic gathering of data from the respondents through questionnaires. Some of the data was also collected by mearns of personal interview. The type of questions asked was: * Open-ended questions: these questions call for a response of more than a few words. In open-ended questions, the respondents are free to express their views in their own words. Multiple-choice questions: The questions for which we have a number of ch oices as aanswers are termed as multiple-choice questions. * Dichotomous questions: this is an extreme form of multiple-choice questions, which allows only two responses such a yes-no, agree-disagree, male-female etc. Tools used for data analysis * Ppercentage Analysis

Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance

Motivation, Satisfaction and Performance Plan LDR 531 Table of Contents The Team1 Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance1 Motivation1 Satisfaction2 Performance2 The Plan2 References4 The Team The team is composed of four team members and one team manager; Mike, James, Mary, Katy and Barb. The team does a good job staying motivated and satisfied, and also performs well. However, there are moments the team struggles due to differences in attitudes, emotions, and values. The team manager strives to implement ways to keep the team where it should be.The plan will address the ways to keep the team motivated, satisfied and preforming well. Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance The team currently has one thing that motivates them, satisfies them, and keeps them performing well, bonuses. The team works on different projects throughout the year. Meeting the deadlines on these projects keeps the team performing well which in turn earns them a bigger bonus check which motivates and satis fies them. However, there have been several instances where the team has not met a deadline and it has caused them their bonus for the project.This then causes issues between the team members and keeps them from performing well, being satisfied, and being motivated. Motivation In order to increase team motivation, the manager has come up with two suggestions; get connected and show the team appreciation. The best way to get connected with your team is to build relationships with them. It is very important to let your team know you have their best interest in mind. By doing so, you also build trust. Very rarely do employees do more than just the minimum when they do not feel like you will do more for them. The key here is to establish a professional relationship, not a friendship.By establishing these relationships and getting connected with your team, you will increase their motivation. (Kearns, 2010) Showing the team appreciation is also something that will increase the motivation within a team. Doing simple gestures like bringing in donuts or bagels (something your team enjoys), shows you are thinking of them and appreciate their hard work. It is important that when deciding to do this, it is not overdone. Team members can start to expect such a gesture and you don’t want that happening. Satisfaction The team has expressed major dissatisfaction when it comes to working long days for several weeks at a time.In order to overcome this dissatisfaction, the team manager has proposed the team take turns in deciding a schedule for the week. There are several rules that need to be taken into account, like hours of operation. By implementing this type of plan, the employees will be allowed to work out schedules that satisfy all of them and they get a sense of more than just work back. (Improve Your Employees' Job Satisfaction, 2004) Performance The most important thing to increase performance is to give regular performance reviews. This ensures that the team m embers and the team manager are all on the same page.While in a team, it’s important to discuss team reviews as well. As a manager, it is important to do this so that the team as a whole knows how they are doing. It allows for corrections and for the team to know how well they are doing. Strengths are a great focus point, however it is also important to address the weaknesses so they can be corrected. (McCormick, 2012) The Plan The following is a detail of what the plan is for motivation, satisfaction, and performance. Months 1-3 * Inform team members of the plan * 1st individual and team performance reviews * Set expectations Start developing a professional relationship * Set expectations * Team manager only: Treat the team (bagels, donuts, etc. ) * Set schedule * Discuss rules for schedules during long projects * Set expectations Months 4-6 * 2nd individual and performance reviews * Evaluate schedule setting for long projects * Evaluate professional relationships Months 7-1 2 * 3rd and 4th individual and performance reviews * Schedule setting for long projects * Continue building professional relationships At the end of the year, there will be a yearly evaluation taking into account all the evaluations for the year.It is a good way to show your team how far they’ve come. At this time, any changes that the team believes should be made can be addressed. References Improve Your Employees' Job Satisfaction. (2004, March 22). Retrieved from Entrepreneur: http://www. entrepreneur. com/article/70060# Kearns, K. (2010). Top 7 Tips for Motivating Your Team. Retrieved from Top 7 Business: http://top7business. com/? Top-7-Tips-for-Motivating-Your-Team&id=567 McCormick, M. (2012). Chron. Retrieved from How to Increase Employee Performance in the Workplace: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/increase-employee-performance-workplace-1950. html

Lear Wont Take a Backseat Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lear Wont Take a Backseat - Case Study Example Lear’s window of opportunity for strategic advantage given by using virtual reality environment would not be for long as the technology is increasingly being adopted within the business strategy and processes across the globe. It has at the most around one to two years of advantage before its competitors catch up with it. With fast advancing technology, the businesses are rapidly adopting the technology-based changes in their processes. It is envisioned that within the next two years, Lear’s competitors would be able to acquire expertise and competency in the designing and working in the virtual environment. Hence, it is important that Lear continuously try to innovate to maintain its competitive advantage in the industry. Â  CAD system does offer Lear huge advantage because it hugely facilitated in digitalizing the manual process of designing. It helped the designers in creating designs that could be changed with the flick of cursor that not only saved time but also the physical labor-intensive way of designing with clay. Â  Virtual reality system significantly adds value to Lear and GM mainly through the creation of value chain that simplifies the various related processes and integrates them to reduce time. At the same time, it increases efficiency and gives the company distinct advantage in the market. Initially, it involved designers, sculptors, and final production/ manufacturing. Lear’s use of technology eliminated the need for sculptors and designers were able to design prototypes and make appropriate correction to suit the customers without bothering with manual clay modeling of the design. The three-dimensional virtual reality environment helped them to visualize and experience the real product in a virtual environment. This was vital input that created a whole new concept of the value chain for GM. Â  Lear executives could seek a number of competitive advantages from IS in general.

Lower Division Capstone Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Lower Division Capstone - Assignment Example the employees, a company is able to sustain and to compete in the competitive markets by introducing new innovative products and services in the market (Tutar, Altinoz, & Cakiroglu, 2011). Penetration pricing in marketing context is considered as a strategic measure through which the company can fix their products or services price to be relatively lower than the existing market price. It can facilitate to draw customers at the initial phase of a product launch due to lower price of the product. Penetration pricing can be defined as the measure implemented by the company while launching new products in the markets in order to attract customers. This measure can help the company to increase customers’ demand and loyalty for their products and services (Holden & Nagle, 1998). Contextually, in accordance with globalization, the business markets on a global basis have become competitive where a company needs to implement new innovative ideas into their operational process in order to sustain in the market with continued growth. In relation to this context DHL, a logistic company has incorporated the process of employee empowerment culture in Nigeria in order to sustain and to compete with its rivals in the market. In this process, DHL’s HRM considered two measures which included hall session and suggestion box for all the employees in order to engage them in the operational process (Myers Leadership, 2012). In relation to penetrating pricing, Microsoft implemented the pricing strategy into their business process in order to compete with the rivals through increasing customer demand for their products and services. With the help of this strategy, Microsoft has lowered its communication suits product prices in the market in order to attract customers and to increase their product demand (Perez, 2012). DHL’s considered measures followed under the culture of employee empowerment are hall session in which all the employees are gathered inside a hall and the HR

Counter Terrorism in Comparative Perspective Essay - 1

Counter Terrorism in Comparative Perspective - Essay Example As a measure to retaliate to and prevent terror attacks, America and its allies have initiated several counter-terror operations in perceived geo-political hotspots. But differentiating between what comprises an act of terror and what can be classified as counter-terror is never straightforward - the official use of these labels is often purely a matter of rhetoric and self-serving bias. As renowned public intellectual Noam Chomsky succinctly points out, â€Å"if it is done by our side, the act is counter-terror; if it is done by the enemy, it is terror†. (Chomsky, as quoted in Bowden, 2003, p.51) A glance at the presentation of conflicts in mainstream media sources bears out this point. Depending on who the consumers of news information are, notations of terror and counter-terror are conveniently swapped. Hence, conceptions and definitions of these two opposing terms will have to begin by dispelling rhetorical exaggerations, intrinsic biases and other barriers to truth. In th is context, it is not surprising that the word ‘terrorism’ has become so subjective as to be without any concrete meaning. Nevertheless, the word has a frightening resonance, because people â€Å"tend to believe that it does have meaning and to use and abuse the word by applying it to whatever they hate as a way of avoiding rational thought and discussion and, frequently, excusing their own illegal and immoral behaviour†. (Whitbeck, 2002, p.52) The vagueness of the term is evident from the range of verbal formulations (signifying diverse acts) to which it is applied – â€Å"Mass murder," "assassination," "arson" and "sabotage" are available (to all of which the phrase "politically motivated" can be added if appropriate). Such crimes, moreover, are already on the statute books, rendering specific criminal legislation for "terrorism" unnecessary. Such precise formulations, however, do not carry the overwhelming, demonizing and thought-deadening impact of th e word "terrorism," which is, of course, precisely the charm of the word for its more cynical and unprincipled users and abusers. If someone commits "politically motivated mass murder," people might be curious as to the cause or grievances which inspired such a crime, but no cause or grievance can justify (or even explain) "terrorism," which, all right-thinking people agree, is the ultimate evil.† (Whitbeck, 2002, p.52) The best indication of difficulties in defining terrorism is the fact that some of the most inspirational public figures of the twentieth century such as Nelson Mandela, Menachem Begin, Yasser Arafat and Gerry Adams were all regarded as terrorists at some point during their public life. This classification of them being terrorists co-existed or transformed into more respectable classifications such as statesmen and peacemakers – indeed, Mandela, Begin and Arafat, have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and Mandela is viewed today by many as the leading m oral authority of his time in the world. (Tsoukala, 2004, p.417) Such examples typify the hazard of defining terrorism and terrorists. It also shows that these terms are easier to talk about than to define. As noted political commentator, Nissan Horowitz, points out in the major Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, the meaning of the term terrorism is all in the eye of the beholder. To give a concrete example, he asks â€Å"

Google glasses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Google glasses - Essay Example This version is effective since it has a user practice that works easily under voice commands and touch. Based on the demand-pull inflation, Google glass has received a strong consumer demand due to its efficiency. The users are highly purchasing the Google glasses, and its sales have increased inevitably. This has improved the economy of Google glasses making it to have the attention of many users al over the world. In conclusion, according to the Ansoff strategy, the company has to undertake various steps to make sure that the consumers are aware of the product in the mark. When the Google glass products are introduced the market penetration is important since it captures the attention of customers from other products. This results to market development where different consumers are targeted for the Google glass products. When the products develop, the manufactures of Google glass have the advantage of producing new products since the consumers are aware. Through these strategies, the product will become diversified and the manufacturing firm is at a lower risk of losing market to its

3 Artworks of 3 Artist releating to speak and memory Assignment

3 Artworks of 3 Artist releating to speak and memory - Assignment Example The concept of memory and speak is brought in the painting Kahlo’s Self-Portrait with Portrait of Dr. Farill as it depicts her state of psychology during her long, tempestuous relationship with Diego Rivera (Lindauer 83). Even when her partner Rivera figure does not appear in her painting, she has a tendency to identify other elements and features of her paintings as a symbol of the presence of her partner. To make herself well remembered, she paints herself having heavy eyebrows that are joined into one in order to express and androgynous mind. It is striking how Dr. Farill, who had normal eyebrows, gains unified ones in the painting. She wants to be associated with her physician and to hold the memories of him when she alters her costume to resemble a white coat of a physician. Her diary confirms her need to keep the memory of the doctor, and her identification with the doctor in the portrait is to show as her the doctor works hard, continues to care for the sick while he is also seriously ill (Lindauer 87). Kahlo wants to depict the importance of doctors in the society and why they should be remembered. The brushes and a palette just close to her painting of her doctor that depicts the nature of Kahlo’s art, where she says that her painting is carrying a message of pain. The palette in her lap is replaced by part of her heart, while her paintbrushes are dripping with blood, that leaves the view with no doubt that her existence is important and need a memory. When one looks at this painting and identifies the different elements used, one cannot help but see the artwork of Jan Van Eyck. Here the concept of memory is brought up as Durer does not the painting of Eyck to go unremembered, but is in memory of those who view his own paintings. Durer puts an inscription some place within his painting so that he can bring to the viewer the meaning behind the painting (Koerner 31). It is his signature of using inscription

- Art and Music Appreciation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

- Art and Music Appreciation - Essay Example bit of a sunset: at first you are sad to see the day go, but as the sun sinks down and the sky turns pink, you think, â€Å"Ah, the beauty of the sunset is worth the fact that it is now night and a bit cold out.† It is a fine song to relax to. There is a constant shift from soft notes to hard ones, marking it as a very dynamic piece. It requires a great deal of dexterity from its performer, especially to keep the constant swarm of notes going. It is very brisk and seems to be in a great rush, bouncing off the walls at a dizzying pace. In the middle, it begins to slow down a bit, before playfully speeding up again. I find this to be a cheerful, funny piece, and can easily imagine people smiling as they try to dance to it. 2.) Discussion Questions: Art. The impressionist style of painting is characterized chiefly by concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light. -Nicholas Pioch Impressionism is often a kind of soft-focus style of painting where the figures or objects appear in varying levels of detail. The world of light has more influence on our sight than you might expect, is what impressionist seem to be saying. They try to shift our allegiances from strict forms to a vaguer, airier world. They use soft colours that blend into one another and often capture pastoral scenes. They question how we perceive the world and what our visual prejudices might

Charles Dickens engender sympathy Essay Example for Free

Charles Dickens engender sympathy Essay How does Charles Dickens engender sympathy for his protagonist Pip in this extract from Great Expectations? In this essay on Great Expectations, I am going to explore how the experiences of the main character Pip, create sympathy from the reader for him and how Dickens has put this across. Charles Dickens has written a gripping novel, set in his time and he has created sympathy for Pip in many different ways throughout the text. A first example of this is when Pip visits Miss Havishams house and meets Estella. She called me boy so often and with a carelessness that was far from complimentary7, this shows that the way Estella spoke to Pip and that, instead of addressing him by his name, she just called him boy as if he was not worthy of his name, and he could sense that she did not really like him because of the way she said this, as indicated in the quote. This makes the reader feel sorry for Pip as Estella was very rude to him and unwelcoming, and nobody would really like to be in his position. So as well as being uncomfortable at the way Estella treats him, Pip also feels uncomfortable with his new surroundings as he has grown up with Joe and his Sister in poor, working class conditions at a Blacksmiths forge, whereas Satis House is very different. It is rich and grand but also scary for Pip. The first thing I noticed was that the passages were all dark, this shows that Pip must have been quite frightened because of the darkness, and he was in a strange place but it is even worse that it is the first thing he noticed about the house. Pip was frightened of his surroundings as they were gothic and dark and very different, but the fact that he did know anyone at all must have also been a challenging experience. At last we came to the door of a room and she said, Go in/ I answered more in shyness than politeness, After you miss. To this she returned: Dont be ridiculous boy; I am not going in. And scornfully walked away, and what was worse took the candle with her. This was very uncomfortable and I was half afraid/ This long quote, from the extract shows a lot, first of all that he was very shy and uncomfortable in everyway at where he was and that he didnt know anyone and he was also afraid. When he entered Miss Havishams room he was afraid again because of the very strange surroundings he entered into. No glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it! this shows that it was very unusual and he was quite frightened and also when he saw Miss Havisham, the strangest lady I have ever seen or shall ever see/ As well as being very strange, Pip also noticed that she was extremely rich, some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table/ Pip was not used to seeing such finery or such unusual surroundings so all of this makes the reader feel very sympathetic towards him. Miss Havishams mental state could also be a coarse for concern as, since her fianci left her on their wedding day and broke her heart she went a bit mad and stopped all of the clocks in the house and, by never touching anything in her room she tried literally to stop time at the prosiest second her heart was broken. Her watch had stopped at twenty minutes to nine and she says to Pip What do I touch? Your heart. Broken! This experience must have been very frightening and unsettling for a young naive boy who was not used to being in the presence of such an eccentric and slightly mad old lady. Not just the fact that Miss Havisham was strange and so were her surroundings she also spoke to Pip and ordered him in a very strange and suspicious/manner. I sometimes have sick fancies and I have a sick fancy that I want to see some play. There, there! Play, play, play! This order seems rather strange for an old woman to have a fancy to see a young boy play but also the repetitive way in which she commands him to Play, play, play! She says this three times and Pip does not really know what to do so he therefore feels very awkward. After the harsh words from Estella and meeting Miss Havisham, Pip starts to feel the realisation of his low social status. This boy, why he is a common labouring boy, these words from Estella hurt Pip deeply but he did not show his true emotions until he was alone. As I cried, I kicked the wall and took a hard twist at my hair; so bitter where my feelings! Dickens has displayed this very well as you can also feel a connection with him, because it is written in first person narration I, so you feel like Pip is actually talking to you, and you could imagine if you were in Pips position you, yourself would feel very frightened and uncomfortable so you end up feeling sorry and sympathetic for him.

Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers

Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Health Food Drinks I. Problem definition 1.1 Background India, the worlds largest malt-based drinks market, accounts for 22% of the worlds retail volume sales. These drinks are traditionally consumed as milk substitutes and marketed as a nutritious drink, mainly consumed by the old, the young and the sick. The Health food drinks category consists of white drinks and brown drinks. South and East India are large markets for these drinks, accounting for the largest proportion of all India sales. The total market is placed at about 90,000 ton and is estimated to be growing at about 4%. These Malt beverages, though, are still an urban phenomenon. White drinks account for almost two-thirds of the market. GSK Consumer Healthcare is the market leader in the white malt beverages category with a 60.7% overall market share. Heinzs Complan comes in second (in this segment, third overall) with a market share of 12-13%. Market leader GSK also owns other brands such as Boost, Maltova and Viva. Currently, brown drinks (which are cocoa-based) continue to grow at the expense of white drinks like Horlicks and Complan. The share of brown drinks has increased from about 32% to 35% over the last five years. Cadburys Bournvita is the leader in the brown drink segment with a market share of around 15%. Other significant players are Nestlà ©s Milo and GCMMFs Nutramul. 1.2 Problem Statement The project had been undertaken with an objective to understand the customer behaviour in the â€Å"Health Food Drink (HFD)† product category. The objective of the study also included identifying the determinant purchase factors, the customer segments and the sources of information they rely on. The existing positioning of prominent brands and the perceptions among different segments were also covered under the study. The brand loyalty and switching were also studied. The brand personality was also studied as a part of the project. II. Literature review Nutrition In India After 4 years of age, a childs energy needs per kilogram of bodyweight are decreasing but the actual amount of energy (calories) required increases, as the child gets older. From 5 years to adolescence, there is a period of slow but steady growth. Dietary intakes of some children may be less than recommended for iron, calcium, vitamins A and D and vitamin C, although in most cases -as long as the energy and protein intakes are adequate and a variety of foods, including fruit and vegetables, are eaten- deficiencies are unlikely. Regular meals and healthy snacks that include carbohydrate -rich foods, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes and nuts should contribute to proper growth and development without supplying excessive energy to the diet. Children need to drink plenty of fluids, especially if it is hot or they are physically active. Water is obviously a good source of liquid and supplies fluid without calories. Variety is important in childrens diets and other sources of fluid such as milk and milk drinks, fruit juices can also be chosen to provide needed fluids. In India, each State is practically equivalent to a country with its specific socio-economic level, different ethnic groups, food habits, health infrastructures and communication facilities. Thus, the nutritional status of the population shows significant variation between states since it results from a varying combination of factors. In the last 20 years, there has been an improvement in the nutritional status of the Indian population. This improvement results from not only changes in food intake but also socio-economic factors, increased availability of potable water, lower morbidity and improvement of health facilities. In children under five years of age, the marked improvement in nutritional status is shown by the reduction of the prevalence of underweight from 63%, in the 1975-79 period to 53% in the 1988-90 period. The under-five mortality rate (U5MR), an important indicator of the socio-economic development, and health and nutritional status of a society, declined from 282% in 1962 to 115†° in 1994. However, a multitude of infectious diseases such as respiratory and intestinal infections as well as malaria remain the main cause of death in children under five, with malnutrition being an aggravating factor. Measles, tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis are also frequent causes of death during infancy and childhood. In the last 20 years, there have been no significant changes in patterns of dietary intake. Cereals remain the staple food in India providing most of the energy intake. Since the seventies the consumption of foods like pulses, roots and tubers has fallen, while those of other foods like sugar, jaggery (unrefined brown sugar), fats and oils and green leafy vegetables have slightly increased. The average Indian diet remains largely deficient in green leafy vegetables, meat, and fish, milk and milk products. Moreover, it also remains deficient in some micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron. Adolescents who are undergoing rapid growth and development are one of the nutritionally vulnerable groups who have not received the attention they deserve. In under-nourished children rapid growth during adolescence may increase the severity of under-nutrition. Early marriage and pregnancy will perpetuate both maternal and child under-nutrition. At the other end of spectrum among the affluent segment of population, adolescent obesity is increasingly becoming a problem. Pre-school children constitute the most nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population and their nutritional status is considered to be a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. Over the last two decades there has been some improvement in energy intake and substantial reduction in moderate and severe under- nutrition in pre- school children India has enormous under-nutrition and over-nutrition problems Asia has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Asia was inspired by the massive challenge that this situation currently poses for Asia. It describes the main driving forces behind the groundswell of under-nutrition, while shedding light on the emerging double burden of co-existing underweight and overweight, and the linkages between these two different forms of malnutrition. There are two types of nutritional problems one is under-nutrition and another is over-nutrition. Emphasis should be given not only to food but also to care and health, the reason being that even if children in the age group of 0-2 years are able to get food, they may have mothers who do not have enough time to pay attention to their children. Similarly, if there is no health-guaranteeing environment, and children suffer from diarrhoeal diseases, no amount of food will help prevent malnutrition. Over-nutrition, on the other hand, means either too many calories or the wrong types of calories such as saturated fats or highly processed sugar that lead to obesity, vascular diseases, etc. Many developing countries have under-nutrition and those in Europe and North America have over- nutrition problems. There is this in-between category with countries like India that still have an enormous amount of under-nutrition and significant over-nutrition problems. In India, for instance, around 50 per cent of its children under the age of five are undernourished or malnourished. But in urban areas, the over-nutrition problem is shooting up, thanks to the change in lifestyle and food habits. As a result, health systems are under huge stress. When there is malnutrition, there is a higher level of lower birth rate. One in three babies born in India weigh significantly low because their mothers are undernourished. Some low-weight babies die and some survive and those who survive adapt to malnutrition and scarcity. That is, the biological adaptation is programmed to maximize every calorie the body gets. This adaptation that helped a malnourished baby survive suddenly turns out to be a mal-adaptation when the baby becomes an adult. The adult, who was malnourished in the past, gains extra weight even when he takes only normal amount of food because of the biological adaptation. Brand Loyalty Selling to brand loyal[1] customers is far less costly than converting new customers (Reichheld 1996, Rosenberg and Czepiel 1983)[i]. In addition, brand loyalty provides firms with tremendous competitive weapons. Brand loyal consumers are less price sensitive (Krishnamurthi and Raj 1991)[ii]. A strong consumer franchise gives manufacturers leverage with retailers (Aaker 1991) 1. And, loyalty reduces the sensitivity of consumers to marketplace offerings, which gives the firm time to respond to competitive moves (Aaker 1991) 1. In general, brand loyalty is a reflection of brand equity, which for many businesses is the largest single asset. Perhaps the most cited conceptual definition of brand loyalty comes from Jacoby and Chestnut (1978, p. 80)[iii]: â€Å"The biased, behavioral response, expressed over time, by some decision-making unit, with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and is a function of psychological (decision-making, evaluative) processes.† Consistent with this definition are two broad categories of operational definitions. The first stresses the â€Å"behavioral response, expressed over time†Ã¢â‚¬â€typically a series of purchases. As Day (1979) observed[iv], however, the major limitation of behavioral measures is the failure to identify motive and the resulting confusion between brand loyalty and other forms of repeat buying. The major alternative operational definition is based on consumer attitudes, preferences, and purchase intentions. These measures stress the cognitive â€Å"bias,† and the â€Å"psychological (decision-making evaluative) proc esses† underlying loyalty. Health Related Expenses KSA TECHNOPAK has conceived an innovative product called Health Outlook 2003, which provides strategic insights to consumer shopping and buying behavior. Apart from the consumer insights, complete health profiling is also done for providing derived disease incidence and prevalence in the country. This Pan Indian research model provides large research depths by covering about 10,000 households across cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Calcutta, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Surat. The rich respondent profile includes SEC A, B and C giving a good coverage for demographic types. Health Outlook shows that health enjoys about 9.4 per cent share of the wallet of Indian consumer and is on the rise for the last three years. This spend includes health supplements, health drinks, doctors and consultants fees, medicines, medical insurance, regular check ups etc. About 91 per cent of this was out-of-pocket expense and only 9 per cent came from employers and insurance. Analysis of the consumers drug purchase behaviour shows that 59 per cent use old prescriptions and 29 per cent use over-the-counter drugs, meaning 88 cent of the consumers indulged in self-medication. Consumer attitudes to health drinks are mainly influenced by quality attributes. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. The relationships between consumers awareness of health drink, price and perceived quality of food were investigated by tests involving series of consumer panels and sensory evaluation. Sensory responses were also matched to instrumental analysis data. Results indicated that overall there was no relation between panelists views about health drinks and their sensory perceptions. Eighty percent of the panelists felt that organic products were too expensive, but would buy them if they were cheaper. However the study showed that most of the people would not be likely to change their preference once they had made a product choice based upon sensory attributes. This has important implications, indicating that not only price, but also sensory quality of health drink must be considered in order to maintain repeated purchases by most consume rs. It is widely accepted that consumer acceptance of drinks is mainly determined by their sensory perception, while choice is strongly influenced by the perceived value for money. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Although comparisons between organic and conventional drinks have been reported for a range of attributes, measures of the quality of health drinks as perceived by consumers using objective sensory evaluation methods, or the relevance of any preconceptions in perception have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of objective quality measurements including sensory attributes and consumer perception of organically and conventionally produced health drink products. About two thirds of the consumers that participated in the survey believed that health drink is good for the environment, and 55% thought that it is healthier. However there was some confusion relating to the use of pesticides and chemicals in that. Few consumers distinguished health drinks by appearance or taste. Buyers of health drinks were more likely to indicate that the appearance and taste are better, but environmental protection was still the dominant perceived benefit. Buyers who believe that health drink is better also think that it is expensive (p II. Approach to the problem Objective or theoretical framework The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence a person into making a decision to buy a certain brand of malt-based health drink. As mentioned in the Literature Review, according to industry analysts, this category has grown only on promotions and for now, except for promotions, nothing seems to be working. Therefore, ideally, this research should be able to bring to the fore, certain other factors that could lead to a growth of this segment. At the very least, the research should corroborate the existing assumptions regarding the influencing factors. It should be in a position to verify that the steps various players are taking to stimulate volumes are in the right direction, and would eventually lead to an increase in market share. Research Questions I. What are the different â€Å"Customer Segments† depending upon the preferences? II. What is the perception of people towards the leading brands of Health Food Drinks? III. What are different factors that influence the customer when He/She buys a Health Food Drink? IV. Who are the major Influencers in the purchase decision of Health Food Drinks? Identification of information needed After fixing the objective, we started an extensive reading on the topic. The very first question we needed to clear in our mind was: â€Å"What does Health Food Drinks mean?† Therefore we narrowed down to the malt-based Health drinks like Bournvita and Horlicks. The subsequent readings helped us understand the consumer patterns and perceived needs of the consumers from a health drink. Depending upon that, we listed down several factors that can influence a consumer in buying or not buying a health drink. The study on â€Å"Consumer Behaviour† throws light on the prevalent consumer purchase influencers like Price, Nourishment, Palatability, and Packaging which are included in the purchase influence factors in the questionnaire The Literature on â€Å"Indian Nourishment† shows that the Indian consumer is getting more and more health conscious and thus there is huge potential for the health drinks in the Indian market. Nowadays there can be a number of sources that influence a family in buying a Health Drink. These sources can be promotions, Doctors Advice, Peer Group talks ( word of mouth) and choice of the children themselves. Since the malt-based health-drink segment is broadly divided into 2 categories brown (cocoa-based) and white, therefore it was decided to study the leading brands available in both these categories. We visited retail outlets in different parts of South Delhi to determine the most popular brands. We have assumed that brands that are most visible and widely available are the most popular, as retailers would stock only those brands that invoke maximum sales All identified factors were discussed and screened by the research team. In this process, factors that did not convey much, did not sound authentic or did not differ much from other factors were eliminated. III. Research Design The methodology followed for analyzing the consumer behavior of health food drink customers. 3.1 Preliminary Investigation This phase involved preliminary investigation of the various factors which could possibly affect the consumers perception about the various brands and in turn influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. We primarily used three methods to identify the various factors. The Secondary data gathered was analyzed to understand the current scenario of the Health drinks segment. The analysis of the secondary data also helped us find different attributes which affect the health drinks segment. 3.2 Collection of Quantitative data Measurement and Scaling Procedures: Non-Comparative Rating scale is used in which respondents evaluate only one object at a time, and for this reason noncomparative scales are often referred to as monadic scales. Noncomparative techniques consist of continuous and itemized rating scales. We have used continuous rating scale in order to rate the choices for purchase considerations and the sources of purchase decisions. Questionnaire Design: This phase involved the design of the questionnaire on the basis of the potential factors identified as influencing the customer behavior. Research problems were listed and then the information needed was identified. The questions were then prepared in order to fulfill the information requirements as identified earlier. Survey: Different Survey methods were used for collection of data. The principle method used was Personal Interviewing of the respondents. In-Home interviews were conducted by us at various locations in Delhi. We also did Mall Intercept at popular markets like Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar. Due to the shortage of time, we conducted a few telephonic interviews to maintain diversity in data. 3.3 Sampling Process Target Population: The target population is the collection of elements or objects that process the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. Our target population involves the users, deciders and buyers of health food drinks. The users include the old and the young population. The deciders and the buyers mostly include the house wives who buy the product from the market. Sample Size: It denotes the number of elements to be included in the study. Due to time constraints the sample size chosen is very small. Sampling Technique: A mixture of quota and stratified method was used for sampling, with care being taken to get responses from customers of different age groups and different family sizes. iv. Fieldwork The survey was conducted keeping in mind the users and deciders of the health drinks. The survey was conducted in the Paschim Vihar and Ranibagh Areas of Delhi. We made several trips to the local market (Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar) and the nearby households to gather information from relevant people. V. Data Interpretation and Analysis 5.1 Data Analysis Plan This chapter shows how the information needed to answer the three key research questions have been extracted via the questionnaire. Q1 explicitly asked the respondents if a health drink is used in the family or by them. The questionnaire was not administered to the respondents that answered NO to this question. Such respondents have not been included in the sample size of 60 that has been mentioned. Q2 to Q6 of the questionnaire are used to get the general details about the respondent (age, educational qualification, annual income, family size and number of children in the family. Q4 explicitly asked the respondents about the size of the family and Q6 asked about the number of children in the respondents family. Q7 explicitly asks the brand preference of the respondent about the health drink. Q8 asks the respondents to rate the importance of the following purchase considerations on a scale of 1(Very unimportant) to 5 (Very Important): a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions These attributes were decided after a thorough secondary data analysis. However some of these attributes might have similar effect on the consumer preference. Therefore we conduct a factor analysis to find out the factors to which one or more of the above variables belong. Q9 asks the respondents to rate the Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision. The following sources were considered: a) Advertisement b) Children c) Doctor d) Family e) Past experience f) Retailer g) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. Q10 ask the respondents to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: a) Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo Q11 and Q12 are used to determine the brand loyalty of the respondent towards the health drink, thus asking the switching pattern of the users. Q13 in the Questionnaire attempts to find the Brand Personality by asking customers the perceived traits of each of the leading brands of health drinks available in the market today. It is very important to realize that these are not the attributes that the drink claims to possess, via its advertisements and other promotional activities. For e.g. Boost in its campaign claims that â€Å"Boost is the secret of my energy†, but rather the attributes the customer feels that the drink possesses. Therefore, if respondents identify spiritedness with Boost it would imply that Boost is successful in its marketing strategy. The responses to this question would also be important to other players in this segment, as they would realize that their promotions are not being effective and hence this would encourage them to redirect their marketing efforts. Apart from spiritedness, the other important traits have been identified as Modesty, Honesty, Cheerfulness, Boldness, Spiritedness, Reliabil ity, Sophistication, Toughness, and Ruggedness. 5.2 Methodology Questionnaire Checking/Editing: The questionnaire is checked for completion and interviewing quality. Editing is the review of the questionnaire with the objective of increasing accuracy and precision. Collation of Data: The data is collated in the excel sheet and prepared for statistical analysis. An SPSS view of the data was also taken for further analysis. Choice of Statistical Analysis Techniques: T-statistic: A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors or sources of information to find out the most important influencing the purchasing decision. T-test was also conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. Anova: It is carried to study the variance of the factors or product attributes that influence the most among the various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. Factor Analysis: The various variables that denote the product attributes that determine the purchasing decision can be actually factored using factor analysis. This factoring of the variables helps in easily studying the consumer behaviour. Cluster Analysis: The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc using cluster analysis so as to identify the distinct clusters depending upon these demographic factors. Multi Dimensional Scaling: This analysis was performed on the overall samples as well as on the 2 segments individually so as to gauge the difference in their perceptions. The selection process depends on the fact that it is conducted on the aggregate level data, i.e. that on the two clusters formed after cluster analysis. This is due to the fact that all market strategies are typically formulated at the segment or aggregate level. 5.3 Analysis and Interpretation Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision h) Advertisement i) Children j) Doctor k) Family l) Past experience m) Retailer n) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors. The results of the test are as shown in the Exhibit 1. We can say from the results that there is a significant difference between the ranks of the factors with a 95% confidence. The two most important factors that emerge out of the tests overall are the â€Å"Family doctor† and the influence of the â€Å"Family†. This finding is an important implication for product placement. We can say that the health food drinks should appeal to the complete family rather than only a particular age group. Doctors can also be an important influencer or opinion leader and hence should be targeted in the product promotions. Some products have been promoting their products using comparative advertisements including testifications by the doctors. A second test can be conducted in the same manner taking only the cases where the people are having kids in the family. The results are shown in the Exhibit 2. We observe that the two most important factors differ from the first scenario. The two most important factors that emerge out of the test are â€Å"Family Doctor† and â€Å"Advertisement†. Thus it can be concluded that advertisements have an important influence on the families having kids or in turn the kids. This can be easily observed from the large number of advertisements directed towards the well being of kids. Product Attributes Influencing the Purchase Decision The following product attributes were identified as influencing the purchase decisions of the customers: a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions The respondents were asked to score the importance of the factors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. A t-test was conducted on the scores of the factors in order to find the most important factors. The t-test shows there is a significant difference between the scores of the various factors with a 95% confidence. The results of the test are shown in Exhibit 3. We observe from the results that the two most important product attributes in making a purchase decision are the â€Å"Palatability† and the â€Å"Nourishment† perception in the minds of the customers. These factors turn out to be the same irrespective of whether there are children in the family or not. We then study the variance of these factors among various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. We studied the variance of the mean scores of these attributes among the various groups differentiated by the following factors:- a) Income b) Education c) Age d) Family size The results of the Anova tests which were conducted on the data are as shown in the Exhibits 4-7. We observe that there are no significant differences in the scores of the product attributes in different groups as classified by â€Å"Income†, â€Å"Education† and â€Å"Family size† within a 95% confidence interval. However there is a significant different on the â€Å"Nourishment† and â€Å"Economy† product attributes of health food drinks. As is observed from the mean scores, the â€Å"Nourishment† aspect becomes particularly important for people above the age of 60. It is also important for people who are young in age i.e. less than 20. However it does not seem to be very significant for people in the age group 33- 45. The factor analysis of these attributes is done in the following section. Factor Analysis of Purchase Considerations The factor analysis of the 8 product attributes yields the following 3 factors: Factor I: Promotion, Shelf-Presence, Packaging Economy Factor II: Palatability, Brand Factor III: Nourishment, Colour (For the output of factor analysis, refer to exhibit 8.) As factor I encompass the accessibility and affordability of the product, it can be termed as ‘Purchase Feasibility. As factor II encompass the palatability and brand value of the product, it can be termed as ‘Likeability. As factor III encompass the nutritional value and colour, an indicator of quality, of the product, it can be termed as ‘Utility. Customer Segmentation The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc. The cluster analysis on these demographic variables yields the following 2 clusters: * Cluster 1: The members are almost uniformly distributed across all age segments except under-20 in which no member lies. However, the family size is large than 3 for all the members and a majority of members having 1-2 child in the family. The cluster size is 27 respondents. * Cluster 2: All the members in this cluster are less than the age of 32 yrs, with the majority being less than 20 yrs. Around 90% of the members were either single or couple thus suggesting that the members were either students, or bachelor/newly-married young working professionals. The cluster size is 30 respondents. * As the consumption in cluster 2 would be lower than the large families comprising kids older persons because of less health concerns and preference for alternative beverages, the price sensitivity of cluster 2 would be low while cluster 1 is concerned about economy. (For output of cluster analysis, refer to Exhibit 9). Thus, cluster 1 could be termed as ‘value-seekers while cluster 2 could be termed as ‘quality-seekers. Different Brands on Product Attributes Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: f) Boost g) Bournvita h) Complan i) Horlicks j) Milo The respondents were asked to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. T-test was conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. The results have been shown in Exhibit 11. The number of respondents who were consuming the various brands is as shown in the pie chart. As we can observe from the graph, Bournvita is found to be the leading brand closely followed by Horlicks, while the other brands do not have a large taking from our survey. The results of the various brands on different attributes are as follows: a) Nourishment: Horlicks scores well above all the b Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Health Food Drinks I. Problem definition 1.1 Background India, the worlds largest malt-based drinks market, accounts for 22% of the worlds retail volume sales. These drinks are traditionally consumed as milk substitutes and marketed as a nutritious drink, mainly consumed by the old, the young and the sick. The Health food drinks category consists of white drinks and brown drinks. South and East India are large markets for these drinks, accounting for the largest proportion of all India sales. The total market is placed at about 90,000 ton and is estimated to be growing at about 4%. These Malt beverages, though, are still an urban phenomenon. White drinks account for almost two-thirds of the market. GSK Consumer Healthcare is the market leader in the white malt beverages category with a 60.7% overall market share. Heinzs Complan comes in second (in this segment, third overall) with a market share of 12-13%. Market leader GSK also owns other brands such as Boost, Maltova and Viva. Currently, brown drinks (which are cocoa-based) continue to grow at the expense of white drinks like Horlicks and Complan. The share of brown drinks has increased from about 32% to 35% over the last five years. Cadburys Bournvita is the leader in the brown drink segment with a market share of around 15%. Other significant players are Nestlà ©s Milo and GCMMFs Nutramul. 1.2 Problem Statement The project had been undertaken with an objective to understand the customer behaviour in the â€Å"Health Food Drink (HFD)† product category. The objective of the study also included identifying the determinant purchase factors, the customer segments and the sources of information they rely on. The existing positioning of prominent brands and the perceptions among different segments were also covered under the study. The brand loyalty and switching were also studied. The brand personality was also studied as a part of the project. II. Literature review Nutrition In India After 4 years of age, a childs energy needs per kilogram of bodyweight are decreasing but the actual amount of energy (calories) required increases, as the child gets older. From 5 years to adolescence, there is a period of slow but steady growth. Dietary intakes of some children may be less than recommended for iron, calcium, vitamins A and D and vitamin C, although in most cases -as long as the energy and protein intakes are adequate and a variety of foods, including fruit and vegetables, are eaten- deficiencies are unlikely. Regular meals and healthy snacks that include carbohydrate -rich foods, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes and nuts should contribute to proper growth and development without supplying excessive energy to the diet. Children need to drink plenty of fluids, especially if it is hot or they are physically active. Water is obviously a good source of liquid and supplies fluid without calories. Variety is important in childrens diets and other sources of fluid such as milk and milk drinks, fruit juices can also be chosen to provide needed fluids. In India, each State is practically equivalent to a country with its specific socio-economic level, different ethnic groups, food habits, health infrastructures and communication facilities. Thus, the nutritional status of the population shows significant variation between states since it results from a varying combination of factors. In the last 20 years, there has been an improvement in the nutritional status of the Indian population. This improvement results from not only changes in food intake but also socio-economic factors, increased availability of potable water, lower morbidity and improvement of health facilities. In children under five years of age, the marked improvement in nutritional status is shown by the reduction of the prevalence of underweight from 63%, in the 1975-79 period to 53% in the 1988-90 period. The under-five mortality rate (U5MR), an important indicator of the socio-economic development, and health and nutritional status of a society, declined from 282% in 1962 to 115†° in 1994. However, a multitude of infectious diseases such as respiratory and intestinal infections as well as malaria remain the main cause of death in children under five, with malnutrition being an aggravating factor. Measles, tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis are also frequent causes of death during infancy and childhood. In the last 20 years, there have been no significant changes in patterns of dietary intake. Cereals remain the staple food in India providing most of the energy intake. Since the seventies the consumption of foods like pulses, roots and tubers has fallen, while those of other foods like sugar, jaggery (unrefined brown sugar), fats and oils and green leafy vegetables have slightly increased. The average Indian diet remains largely deficient in green leafy vegetables, meat, and fish, milk and milk products. Moreover, it also remains deficient in some micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron. Adolescents who are undergoing rapid growth and development are one of the nutritionally vulnerable groups who have not received the attention they deserve. In under-nourished children rapid growth during adolescence may increase the severity of under-nutrition. Early marriage and pregnancy will perpetuate both maternal and child under-nutrition. At the other end of spectrum among the affluent segment of population, adolescent obesity is increasingly becoming a problem. Pre-school children constitute the most nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population and their nutritional status is considered to be a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. Over the last two decades there has been some improvement in energy intake and substantial reduction in moderate and severe under- nutrition in pre- school children India has enormous under-nutrition and over-nutrition problems Asia has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Asia was inspired by the massive challenge that this situation currently poses for Asia. It describes the main driving forces behind the groundswell of under-nutrition, while shedding light on the emerging double burden of co-existing underweight and overweight, and the linkages between these two different forms of malnutrition. There are two types of nutritional problems one is under-nutrition and another is over-nutrition. Emphasis should be given not only to food but also to care and health, the reason being that even if children in the age group of 0-2 years are able to get food, they may have mothers who do not have enough time to pay attention to their children. Similarly, if there is no health-guaranteeing environment, and children suffer from diarrhoeal diseases, no amount of food will help prevent malnutrition. Over-nutrition, on the other hand, means either too many calories or the wrong types of calories such as saturated fats or highly processed sugar that lead to obesity, vascular diseases, etc. Many developing countries have under-nutrition and those in Europe and North America have over- nutrition problems. There is this in-between category with countries like India that still have an enormous amount of under-nutrition and significant over-nutrition problems. In India, for instance, around 50 per cent of its children under the age of five are undernourished or malnourished. But in urban areas, the over-nutrition problem is shooting up, thanks to the change in lifestyle and food habits. As a result, health systems are under huge stress. When there is malnutrition, there is a higher level of lower birth rate. One in three babies born in India weigh significantly low because their mothers are undernourished. Some low-weight babies die and some survive and those who survive adapt to malnutrition and scarcity. That is, the biological adaptation is programmed to maximize every calorie the body gets. This adaptation that helped a malnourished baby survive suddenly turns out to be a mal-adaptation when the baby becomes an adult. The adult, who was malnourished in the past, gains extra weight even when he takes only normal amount of food because of the biological adaptation. Brand Loyalty Selling to brand loyal[1] customers is far less costly than converting new customers (Reichheld 1996, Rosenberg and Czepiel 1983)[i]. In addition, brand loyalty provides firms with tremendous competitive weapons. Brand loyal consumers are less price sensitive (Krishnamurthi and Raj 1991)[ii]. A strong consumer franchise gives manufacturers leverage with retailers (Aaker 1991) 1. And, loyalty reduces the sensitivity of consumers to marketplace offerings, which gives the firm time to respond to competitive moves (Aaker 1991) 1. In general, brand loyalty is a reflection of brand equity, which for many businesses is the largest single asset. Perhaps the most cited conceptual definition of brand loyalty comes from Jacoby and Chestnut (1978, p. 80)[iii]: â€Å"The biased, behavioral response, expressed over time, by some decision-making unit, with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and is a function of psychological (decision-making, evaluative) processes.† Consistent with this definition are two broad categories of operational definitions. The first stresses the â€Å"behavioral response, expressed over time†Ã¢â‚¬â€typically a series of purchases. As Day (1979) observed[iv], however, the major limitation of behavioral measures is the failure to identify motive and the resulting confusion between brand loyalty and other forms of repeat buying. The major alternative operational definition is based on consumer attitudes, preferences, and purchase intentions. These measures stress the cognitive â€Å"bias,† and the â€Å"psychological (decision-making evaluative) proc esses† underlying loyalty. Health Related Expenses KSA TECHNOPAK has conceived an innovative product called Health Outlook 2003, which provides strategic insights to consumer shopping and buying behavior. Apart from the consumer insights, complete health profiling is also done for providing derived disease incidence and prevalence in the country. This Pan Indian research model provides large research depths by covering about 10,000 households across cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Calcutta, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Surat. The rich respondent profile includes SEC A, B and C giving a good coverage for demographic types. Health Outlook shows that health enjoys about 9.4 per cent share of the wallet of Indian consumer and is on the rise for the last three years. This spend includes health supplements, health drinks, doctors and consultants fees, medicines, medical insurance, regular check ups etc. About 91 per cent of this was out-of-pocket expense and only 9 per cent came from employers and insurance. Analysis of the consumers drug purchase behaviour shows that 59 per cent use old prescriptions and 29 per cent use over-the-counter drugs, meaning 88 cent of the consumers indulged in self-medication. Consumer attitudes to health drinks are mainly influenced by quality attributes. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. The relationships between consumers awareness of health drink, price and perceived quality of food were investigated by tests involving series of consumer panels and sensory evaluation. Sensory responses were also matched to instrumental analysis data. Results indicated that overall there was no relation between panelists views about health drinks and their sensory perceptions. Eighty percent of the panelists felt that organic products were too expensive, but would buy them if they were cheaper. However the study showed that most of the people would not be likely to change their preference once they had made a product choice based upon sensory attributes. This has important implications, indicating that not only price, but also sensory quality of health drink must be considered in order to maintain repeated purchases by most consume rs. It is widely accepted that consumer acceptance of drinks is mainly determined by their sensory perception, while choice is strongly influenced by the perceived value for money. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Although comparisons between organic and conventional drinks have been reported for a range of attributes, measures of the quality of health drinks as perceived by consumers using objective sensory evaluation methods, or the relevance of any preconceptions in perception have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of objective quality measurements including sensory attributes and consumer perception of organically and conventionally produced health drink products. About two thirds of the consumers that participated in the survey believed that health drink is good for the environment, and 55% thought that it is healthier. However there was some confusion relating to the use of pesticides and chemicals in that. Few consumers distinguished health drinks by appearance or taste. Buyers of health drinks were more likely to indicate that the appearance and taste are better, but environmental protection was still the dominant perceived benefit. Buyers who believe that health drink is better also think that it is expensive (p II. Approach to the problem Objective or theoretical framework The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence a person into making a decision to buy a certain brand of malt-based health drink. As mentioned in the Literature Review, according to industry analysts, this category has grown only on promotions and for now, except for promotions, nothing seems to be working. Therefore, ideally, this research should be able to bring to the fore, certain other factors that could lead to a growth of this segment. At the very least, the research should corroborate the existing assumptions regarding the influencing factors. It should be in a position to verify that the steps various players are taking to stimulate volumes are in the right direction, and would eventually lead to an increase in market share. Research Questions I. What are the different â€Å"Customer Segments† depending upon the preferences? II. What is the perception of people towards the leading brands of Health Food Drinks? III. What are different factors that influence the customer when He/She buys a Health Food Drink? IV. Who are the major Influencers in the purchase decision of Health Food Drinks? Identification of information needed After fixing the objective, we started an extensive reading on the topic. The very first question we needed to clear in our mind was: â€Å"What does Health Food Drinks mean?† Therefore we narrowed down to the malt-based Health drinks like Bournvita and Horlicks. The subsequent readings helped us understand the consumer patterns and perceived needs of the consumers from a health drink. Depending upon that, we listed down several factors that can influence a consumer in buying or not buying a health drink. The study on â€Å"Consumer Behaviour† throws light on the prevalent consumer purchase influencers like Price, Nourishment, Palatability, and Packaging which are included in the purchase influence factors in the questionnaire The Literature on â€Å"Indian Nourishment† shows that the Indian consumer is getting more and more health conscious and thus there is huge potential for the health drinks in the Indian market. Nowadays there can be a number of sources that influence a family in buying a Health Drink. These sources can be promotions, Doctors Advice, Peer Group talks ( word of mouth) and choice of the children themselves. Since the malt-based health-drink segment is broadly divided into 2 categories brown (cocoa-based) and white, therefore it was decided to study the leading brands available in both these categories. We visited retail outlets in different parts of South Delhi to determine the most popular brands. We have assumed that brands that are most visible and widely available are the most popular, as retailers would stock only those brands that invoke maximum sales All identified factors were discussed and screened by the research team. In this process, factors that did not convey much, did not sound authentic or did not differ much from other factors were eliminated. III. Research Design The methodology followed for analyzing the consumer behavior of health food drink customers. 3.1 Preliminary Investigation This phase involved preliminary investigation of the various factors which could possibly affect the consumers perception about the various brands and in turn influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. We primarily used three methods to identify the various factors. The Secondary data gathered was analyzed to understand the current scenario of the Health drinks segment. The analysis of the secondary data also helped us find different attributes which affect the health drinks segment. 3.2 Collection of Quantitative data Measurement and Scaling Procedures: Non-Comparative Rating scale is used in which respondents evaluate only one object at a time, and for this reason noncomparative scales are often referred to as monadic scales. Noncomparative techniques consist of continuous and itemized rating scales. We have used continuous rating scale in order to rate the choices for purchase considerations and the sources of purchase decisions. Questionnaire Design: This phase involved the design of the questionnaire on the basis of the potential factors identified as influencing the customer behavior. Research problems were listed and then the information needed was identified. The questions were then prepared in order to fulfill the information requirements as identified earlier. Survey: Different Survey methods were used for collection of data. The principle method used was Personal Interviewing of the respondents. In-Home interviews were conducted by us at various locations in Delhi. We also did Mall Intercept at popular markets like Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar. Due to the shortage of time, we conducted a few telephonic interviews to maintain diversity in data. 3.3 Sampling Process Target Population: The target population is the collection of elements or objects that process the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. Our target population involves the users, deciders and buyers of health food drinks. The users include the old and the young population. The deciders and the buyers mostly include the house wives who buy the product from the market. Sample Size: It denotes the number of elements to be included in the study. Due to time constraints the sample size chosen is very small. Sampling Technique: A mixture of quota and stratified method was used for sampling, with care being taken to get responses from customers of different age groups and different family sizes. iv. Fieldwork The survey was conducted keeping in mind the users and deciders of the health drinks. The survey was conducted in the Paschim Vihar and Ranibagh Areas of Delhi. We made several trips to the local market (Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar) and the nearby households to gather information from relevant people. V. Data Interpretation and Analysis 5.1 Data Analysis Plan This chapter shows how the information needed to answer the three key research questions have been extracted via the questionnaire. Q1 explicitly asked the respondents if a health drink is used in the family or by them. The questionnaire was not administered to the respondents that answered NO to this question. Such respondents have not been included in the sample size of 60 that has been mentioned. Q2 to Q6 of the questionnaire are used to get the general details about the respondent (age, educational qualification, annual income, family size and number of children in the family. Q4 explicitly asked the respondents about the size of the family and Q6 asked about the number of children in the respondents family. Q7 explicitly asks the brand preference of the respondent about the health drink. Q8 asks the respondents to rate the importance of the following purchase considerations on a scale of 1(Very unimportant) to 5 (Very Important): a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions These attributes were decided after a thorough secondary data analysis. However some of these attributes might have similar effect on the consumer preference. Therefore we conduct a factor analysis to find out the factors to which one or more of the above variables belong. Q9 asks the respondents to rate the Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision. The following sources were considered: a) Advertisement b) Children c) Doctor d) Family e) Past experience f) Retailer g) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. Q10 ask the respondents to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: a) Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo Q11 and Q12 are used to determine the brand loyalty of the respondent towards the health drink, thus asking the switching pattern of the users. Q13 in the Questionnaire attempts to find the Brand Personality by asking customers the perceived traits of each of the leading brands of health drinks available in the market today. It is very important to realize that these are not the attributes that the drink claims to possess, via its advertisements and other promotional activities. For e.g. Boost in its campaign claims that â€Å"Boost is the secret of my energy†, but rather the attributes the customer feels that the drink possesses. Therefore, if respondents identify spiritedness with Boost it would imply that Boost is successful in its marketing strategy. The responses to this question would also be important to other players in this segment, as they would realize that their promotions are not being effective and hence this would encourage them to redirect their marketing efforts. Apart from spiritedness, the other important traits have been identified as Modesty, Honesty, Cheerfulness, Boldness, Spiritedness, Reliabil ity, Sophistication, Toughness, and Ruggedness. 5.2 Methodology Questionnaire Checking/Editing: The questionnaire is checked for completion and interviewing quality. Editing is the review of the questionnaire with the objective of increasing accuracy and precision. Collation of Data: The data is collated in the excel sheet and prepared for statistical analysis. An SPSS view of the data was also taken for further analysis. Choice of Statistical Analysis Techniques: T-statistic: A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors or sources of information to find out the most important influencing the purchasing decision. T-test was also conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. Anova: It is carried to study the variance of the factors or product attributes that influence the most among the various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. Factor Analysis: The various variables that denote the product attributes that determine the purchasing decision can be actually factored using factor analysis. This factoring of the variables helps in easily studying the consumer behaviour. Cluster Analysis: The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc using cluster analysis so as to identify the distinct clusters depending upon these demographic factors. Multi Dimensional Scaling: This analysis was performed on the overall samples as well as on the 2 segments individually so as to gauge the difference in their perceptions. The selection process depends on the fact that it is conducted on the aggregate level data, i.e. that on the two clusters formed after cluster analysis. This is due to the fact that all market strategies are typically formulated at the segment or aggregate level. 5.3 Analysis and Interpretation Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision h) Advertisement i) Children j) Doctor k) Family l) Past experience m) Retailer n) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors. The results of the test are as shown in the Exhibit 1. We can say from the results that there is a significant difference between the ranks of the factors with a 95% confidence. The two most important factors that emerge out of the tests overall are the â€Å"Family doctor† and the influence of the â€Å"Family†. This finding is an important implication for product placement. We can say that the health food drinks should appeal to the complete family rather than only a particular age group. Doctors can also be an important influencer or opinion leader and hence should be targeted in the product promotions. Some products have been promoting their products using comparative advertisements including testifications by the doctors. A second test can be conducted in the same manner taking only the cases where the people are having kids in the family. The results are shown in the Exhibit 2. We observe that the two most important factors differ from the first scenario. The two most important factors that emerge out of the test are â€Å"Family Doctor† and â€Å"Advertisement†. Thus it can be concluded that advertisements have an important influence on the families having kids or in turn the kids. This can be easily observed from the large number of advertisements directed towards the well being of kids. Product Attributes Influencing the Purchase Decision The following product attributes were identified as influencing the purchase decisions of the customers: a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions The respondents were asked to score the importance of the factors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. A t-test was conducted on the scores of the factors in order to find the most important factors. The t-test shows there is a significant difference between the scores of the various factors with a 95% confidence. The results of the test are shown in Exhibit 3. We observe from the results that the two most important product attributes in making a purchase decision are the â€Å"Palatability† and the â€Å"Nourishment† perception in the minds of the customers. These factors turn out to be the same irrespective of whether there are children in the family or not. We then study the variance of these factors among various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. We studied the variance of the mean scores of these attributes among the various groups differentiated by the following factors:- a) Income b) Education c) Age d) Family size The results of the Anova tests which were conducted on the data are as shown in the Exhibits 4-7. We observe that there are no significant differences in the scores of the product attributes in different groups as classified by â€Å"Income†, â€Å"Education† and â€Å"Family size† within a 95% confidence interval. However there is a significant different on the â€Å"Nourishment† and â€Å"Economy† product attributes of health food drinks. As is observed from the mean scores, the â€Å"Nourishment† aspect becomes particularly important for people above the age of 60. It is also important for people who are young in age i.e. less than 20. However it does not seem to be very significant for people in the age group 33- 45. The factor analysis of these attributes is done in the following section. Factor Analysis of Purchase Considerations The factor analysis of the 8 product attributes yields the following 3 factors: Factor I: Promotion, Shelf-Presence, Packaging Economy Factor II: Palatability, Brand Factor III: Nourishment, Colour (For the output of factor analysis, refer to exhibit 8.) As factor I encompass the accessibility and affordability of the product, it can be termed as ‘Purchase Feasibility. As factor II encompass the palatability and brand value of the product, it can be termed as ‘Likeability. As factor III encompass the nutritional value and colour, an indicator of quality, of the product, it can be termed as ‘Utility. Customer Segmentation The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc. The cluster analysis on these demographic variables yields the following 2 clusters: * Cluster 1: The members are almost uniformly distributed across all age segments except under-20 in which no member lies. However, the family size is large than 3 for all the members and a majority of members having 1-2 child in the family. The cluster size is 27 respondents. * Cluster 2: All the members in this cluster are less than the age of 32 yrs, with the majority being less than 20 yrs. Around 90% of the members were either single or couple thus suggesting that the members were either students, or bachelor/newly-married young working professionals. The cluster size is 30 respondents. * As the consumption in cluster 2 would be lower than the large families comprising kids older persons because of less health concerns and preference for alternative beverages, the price sensitivity of cluster 2 would be low while cluster 1 is concerned about economy. (For output of cluster analysis, refer to Exhibit 9). Thus, cluster 1 could be termed as ‘value-seekers while cluster 2 could be termed as ‘quality-seekers. Different Brands on Product Attributes Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: f) Boost g) Bournvita h) Complan i) Horlicks j) Milo The respondents were asked to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. T-test was conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. The results have been shown in Exhibit 11. The number of respondents who were consuming the various brands is as shown in the pie chart. As we can observe from the graph, Bournvita is found to be the leading brand closely followed by Horlicks, while the other brands do not have a large taking from our survey. The results of the various brands on different attributes are as follows: a) Nourishment: Horlicks scores well above all the b

Importance Of Physical Activity In Schools Education Essay

Importance Of Physical Activity In Schools Education Essay Engaging in acts of physical activity from a young age is very important for both the mental and physical health of a child; the habits learnt in youth tend to continue onto adulthood thus having an effect on the prevalence of obesity and related illnesses in society. So why is physical activity so important for children and what age is instilling positive habits most beneficial? What roles do teachers of today play in addressing and preventing obesity in our children and what are effective strategies to do this? The benefits of physical activity are vast. Physical activity has been associated with a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease and also an increased life expectancy so its importance is obvious but its value in children sometimes needs to be justified. It is never too early to start teaching a child positive behaviours and habits, however, in middle childhood (ages 6-10) children tend to be in a stage of development where they think very literally they will absorb everything you teach, do, and say and are incredibly influential. It is t this stage of development that their most likely to be taught healthy eating habits, develop exercise programs and have an interest in organised sports. Young people will carry established healthy behaviours throughout their lives such as better eating habits and decreased likelihood of smoking (Shilton, T. and Naughton, G. 2001). Through physical activity children of middle childhood develop healthy muscles, bones and joints; they develop a healthy heart and lungs and they also develop a higher neuromuscular awareness which influences their co-ordination, how they control movement and the development of fine and gross motor skills. Most obviously it enables them to maintain a healthy body weight. Physical activity has also been linked to psychological benefits by improving the control children have over the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Studies have also shown that the participation in physical activity can assist in the social development of children aged 6-10 by providing the opportunity for expression, building confidence and social interaction. Physically active young people have been noted to more readily adopt other healthy lifestyle behaviours (avoidance of tobacco, alcohol and drugs) and demonstrate higher academic performance at school. Children of the ages six to ten spend the majority of their time at school so naturally an effective tool in addressing the problems associated with physical activity and obesity is having teachers play an active role in promoting healthy lifestyles. Schools have been recognized as an appropriate setting for the prevention of eating disorders and child obesity due to the continual and concentrated access to a large number of individuals at a developmentally appropriate age (Neumark-Sztainer, 1996). Research has shown that well-designed and implemented school programs can effectively promote physical activity, healthy eating, and reduction of television viewing and time spent using the computer and computer games. Teachers have access to a great number of young people in an environment that allows debate and lessons about body image, nutrition, and weight These teachers also have the chance to initiate the reinforcement of prevention pro- grams using the whole school approach (Neumark -Sztainer, 1996; ODea Maloney, 2000). Home Economics, Science, Dance, and English teachers have opportunities to become involved in preventive activities within their appropriate curriculum areas as well as through involvement in pastoral care roles such as advisors, student welfare coordinators, and head teachers. (Neumark-Sztainer, Story, Harris, 1999). One strategy teachers can use in the classroom to address and treat the occurrence of obesity in children is to discontinue the use of food as a reward. Food has been used to reward children for good behaviour and performance. Its a very easy, powerful and inexpensive tool in bringing about immediate behavioural changes in children of thee ages six to ten. However, using food as reward often encourages overeating of unhealthy foods high in fat, sugar and little or no nutritional value whatsoever. Rewarding with food can interfere with children of these ages learning to eat in response to hunger and teaches them to eat when they are not hungry. Finding alternatives to food rewards is an important part of providing a healthy school environment. Rewarding children with unhealthy foods in school undermines our efforts to teach them about good nutrition. Its like teaching children a lesson on the importance of not smoking, and then handing out ashtrays and lighters to the kids who did the best job listening. (Schwartz, M.B, Brownell, K.D. 2007). Alternatives to food as a reward include; Social rewards like praise and attention (in front of others). Recognition with certificates and letters of congratulation to parents or caregivers. Privileges of going first, choosing a class activities or sitting by friends. Another way teachers can positively assist the prevention of obesity is to make exercise fun and incorporate it into the daily routine. Forcing children to participate in activities they do not enjoy could have a negative effect on how the child views physical activity in the future. Often sport in school is repetitive and favours the more athletic students in a class. Variety is very important and teachers should seek input from students to which game should be played, it could even be used as a reward allowing the child who has performed best to choose the activity. Incorporating fitness to the daily classroom regime can also be effective. For children attention can begin to wander if activities are too long and for some being sedentary for too long is difficult. At the beginning or end of lessons encourage children to dance, jump and use basic movement. Fun activities like hopping to the bathroom, skipping to other activities around the classroom can also be incorporated and can a id in childrens refinement of fine and gross motor skills. Additionally exercise shouldnt be used as punishment. Children learn to dislike things used as punishments. Penalizing children with physical activity might lead them to avoid activities that are important for maintaining their health. Integrate nutrition education lessons into the curriculum. You can apply nutrition education information into science, maths, language art and health lessons. Along with students collect pictures of healthy nutritional foods and junk foods from magazines, and newspapers. Have the students help to categorize the foods on posters healthy food and junk food. Display this in the classroom where everyone can see and use it at a reference for children to set realistic, well-defined, measurable goals for themselves regarding healthy eating and physical activity. As an example a child might plan to eat five servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit every day or they will play for half an hour after school at least four days a week. Have students record their progress over time. These goals can be graphed and incorporated into certain lessons. Teachers have a valuable contribution to make in the domain of physical activity and the prevention of childhood obesity. In the past they have been underutilized as successful agents of change. This may be because school professionals are uneducated about nutrition and methods of prevention. In order for future prevention of obesity to be a success, perseverance and ongoing training for teachers and schools involved is required. Training must increase knowledge of nutrition, physical activity, obesity, and preventive techniques. Finally, teacher-training programs should stress the importance of development and age specific strategies in the education of children in this area in order to fully utilize schools as an effective setting for prevention and to improve future prevention initiatives, and to promote the health of our young people. Source: Obesity Prevention in Children: Strategies for Parents and School Personnel, National Association of School Psychologists; www.nasponline.org; (301) 657-0270. Printed with permission and provided by the St. Vrain Valley School Districts Public Information Office. Shilton, T. and Naughton, G. (2001). Physical activity and children: a statement of importance and call to action from the Heart Foundation. National Heart Foundation of Australia. Retrieved from http://www.heartfoundation.com.au/downloads/physical%20activity%20and%20%20children.htm Neumark-Sztainer, D. (1996). School based programs for preventing eating distur- bances. Journal of School Health, 66, 64-71. Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Coller, T. (1999). Perceptions of secondary school staff toward the implementation of school-based activities to prevent weight-related disorders: A needs assessment. American Journal of Health Promotion, 13(3),153-156. Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Harris, T. R. (1999). Beliefs and attitudes about obesity among teachers and school health care providers working with adolescents. Journal of Nutrition Education, 31(1),3-9. ODea, J. (2000). School based interventions to prevent eating problems: First do no harm. Eating Disorders, 8, 123-130. ODea, J. (2004) Child obesity prevention: First, do no harm. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice. 20, 259-265. ODea, J. Abraham, S. F. (2000). Improving the body image, eating attitudes, and behaviours of young male and female adolescents: A new educational approach that focuses on self-esteem. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 28, 43-57. ODea, J. Abraham, S. F. (2001). Knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours related to weight control, eating disorders, and body image in Australian trainee home economics and physical education teachers. Journal of Nutrition Education, 33, 332-340. ODea, J. Maloney, D. (2000) Preventing eating and body image problems in children and adolescents using the health promoting schools framework. Journal of School Health, 70(1),18-21. Neumark-Sztainer, D. (1996). School based programs for preventing eating disturbances. Journal of School Health, 66, 64-71. Hill, A. and Silver, E. Fat, friendliness and Unhealthy: 9 year old childrens perceptions of body shape and stereotypes. International Journal of Obesity Related metabolic Disorders 1995; 19(6), 423-30. Government of Western Australia. Keep it fun: supporting youth sport. Clubs guide to encouraging positive parent behaviour. op. cit. Government of Western Australia. Keep it fun: supporting youth sport. Clubs guide to encouraging positive parent behaviour. Perth, Western Australia: Department of Sport and Recreation. http://www.dsr.wa.gov.au Schwartz, M.B., Brownell, K.D. (2007). Actions Necessary to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Creating the Climate for Change. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 78-89. Schwartz, M.B. Brownell, K.D. (2005). Future directions for preventive action on obesity. In Obesity prevention in the 21st century: Public health approaches to tackle the obesity pandemic. Crawford, D. Jeffrey, R. (Eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 307-330 2 Puhl R. and Schwartz, MB (2003). If you are good you can have a cookie: The link between childhood food rules and adult eating behaviours. 283-293 http://kids.nsw.gov.au/uploads/documents/obesityactionplan.pdf