Opportunity:
College students at the University of Florida are unable to
actively keep healthy eating habits due to not knowing available restaurants
and their macronutrients available within their foods.
The Who: College
students
The What:
They are unable to maintain healthy eating habits
The Why: Limited
knowledge of restaurant nutritional information
Are there possibly others who have this need?
-
Professors, on-campus employees, and
graduate/professional TAs may share a similar need to college students. These
professions/jobs may be time-intensive and due to their location on campus,
they may be in need of healthier eating options.
Does everyone in your current ‘who’ share this need?
-
Not everyone in the current ‘who’ carries this
need. There may be exceptions; people who take online classes and have more
time, people of a fitness community who may have
What are the boundaries of the need?
1.
Cost affecting the options of healthy choices
provided by companies
2.
Possible non-disclosure of wholistic nutrition
information by companies
3.
Lack of interest in obtaining nutritional
information to “eat healthy”
4.
Lack of possible options around campus to make
the information available not economical to collect
Does the “why” you have identified hold for everyone?
-
For the most parts, the “why” applies to the
general population within UF. All of my interviews involved answers relating to
a lack of knowledge regarding nutrition. A few participants indicated they were
relatively/regularly conscious about their food intake, with one indicating she
tracked her calories. Otherwise, specific restaurant nutrition information was
not known.
Given your interviews, what do you know about the
opportunity that you didn’t know before?
-
I know now that there is a possible market in
involving a food market within university community. A knowledge of nutrition
around campus is wanted, and it could be effective to capitalize on this.
Questions:
-
How many hours a week do you spend studying?
-
How many hours a week do you spend on
extracurricular activities?
-
How many times a week do you “eat out” at a
restaurant/fast-food establishment?
-
On average, how many meals do you eat a day?
-
Do you keep track of how many calories you eat in
a day?
-
Do you keep track of how many macronutrients you
take in a day?
-
What do you consider a healthy diet?
-
Would you consider your diet to be “healthy”?
-
Do you think restaurants should have healthier
options on their menus?
-
Do you ever feel as if money is an issue when
trying to “eat healthy”?
Unfortunately, I think that the market at UF would almost always tell you that they know what they are eating is bad, but they choose to eat it anyway. That doesn't mean there isn't a good sized market, though. I had an experience similar to that with my interviews. I realize my market is more narrow than I would like, but I still feel like it is large enough.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem you explain is a real one, although I think it affects some students more than others. For example, freshmen are more likely to fall into the trap of unhealthy eating habits than older students who may live off campus and have more food options available. When you are a freshman living on campus you are much more limited, especially if you have a meal plan, and I think these are the students you could put a lot of your focus on. However, the issue is not freshman specific, and I think you could also capitalize on other groups as well.
ReplyDeleteI think The issue you presented goes both ways as the students do know what they are eating is bad, but also are somewhat limited when it comes to healthier alternatives. Living on campus does limit the many healthy options that are available as most are located either far from or off campus. Also, the cost of switching to healthier alternatives is a boundary but if implemented more could really make a difference.
ReplyDelete