Healthy Deliciousness': Discovering the Secret to Healthy Eating via Social Media.

Abstract

There is abundant evidence that many people around the world are suffering from unsuitable food choices, even in populations that are capable of accessing and affording nutritious foods. The heart of the complication lies in the fact that human beings are mainly driven by sensory properties detectable in foods which might not always lead to healthy food choices since we are naturally drawn to sweet taste, salty taste, and foods that are calorie-dense. This interdisciplinary dissertation aims to promote healthy eating through the knowledge of “Healthy Deliciousness”—the intersection of healthiness and deliciousness. A corpus of 1,200 online reviews of the 48 most popular restaurants in Hawaii, from a leading social media site Yelp.com, was content analyzed. Each review was organized into quotes so a point on the continuum of healthiness, a point on the continuum of deliciousness, and various components of each menu item—both directly and indirectly related to healthiness or deliciousness—could be coded. I identified 11 main categories of healthiness, seven main categories of deliciousness, and nine main categories of “Healthy Deliciousness.” Main categories of healthiness include Ingredients and Nutrition; Senses of Health; Health-Related Cooking Methods and Seasoning; Health-Related Thoughts, Behaviors, Habits, and Lifestyles; Food Hygiene; Wellness; Literal Healthiness; Portion; Unhealthy Celebration; Healthiness that Touches the Heart; and Personal Signature of Healthiness. Main categories of deliciousness are Testimonial and Endorsement, Senses of Deliciousness, Restaurant, Consumer Behavior and Lifestyle, Culinary Affair, Matter of iii Heart, and Personal Signature. Main categories of “Healthy Deliciousness” comprise Kitchen, Senses of “Healthy Deliciousness,” “Healthy” and Delicious, Testimonial and Endorsement for “Healthy Deliciousness,” Hygienic Deliciousness, “Healthy Deliciousness” Detected in Consumer Behavior and Lifestyle, Compromised “Healthy Deliciousness,” “Healthy Deliciousness” in One’s Heart, Personal Signature for “Healthy Deliciousness.” The fact that many more findings of deliciousness were found than those of healthiness demonstrates the potential for new categories of “Healthy Deliciousness” by creative combinations of healthiness and deliciousness categories. Members of Yelp Elite Squad are more active than nonmembers in contributing expressions of deliciousness, healthiness, and “Healthy Deliciousness.” The realization of “Healthy Deliciousness”—the secret to sustainable healthy eating—lies in determination, mindfulness, and creativity.