“Healthy is fresh”: A participatory study of meal ideals and barriers shaping food choice in rural Colombia

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👥 Authors

Ana María Arcila-Agudelo¹*, Harold Cardona-Trujillo², Ana Sofia Herazo-Castelblanco³, María Claudia Mejía-Gil⁴, Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mora⁵, Tatiana Ortiz-Pradilla⁶

View affiliations ¹ Corporación Universitaria Remington ² ³ ⁵ Universidad EAFIT (Centro de Valor Público) ⁴ ⁶ Universidad EAFIT (Mercadeo e Innovación) *Corresponding author: ana.arcila@uniremington.edu.co 📄 [Complete author information](/food-perception-rural-colombia/AUTHORS.html)

📄 Abstract

People often use simple rules of thumb to decide what to eat, yet these “healthy eating” beliefs can drift away from everyday constraints. In rural Colombia, we explored how adults define healthy eating, what an “ideal day of eating” looks like in practice, and which barriers shape food choice and intake. We conducted participatory co-design workshops with 41 adults (18–70 years) across three rural subregions of Antioquia. Using visual food models, groups built ideal meals and menus, rated how closely their usual diets matched those ideals (1–5 scale), and discussed what helps or hinders alignment. We then used Colombian food composition data to benchmark the co-designed menus against national food-based dietary guidelines and recommended nutrient intakes. Participants consistently framed healthy eating as “fresh” and “home-prepared,” but their ideals often left less room for vegetables and dairy than guidelines suggest and tended to exceed recommended sodium limits. Self-ratings clustered around 2.5–3.5/5, pointing to a perceived gap between intentions and everyday eating. Barriers were described less as a lack of knowledge and more as affordability, limited access and time, entrenched habits, and emotional strain. Pairing participatory elicitation of meal ideals with nutritional benchmarking helps identify decision rules and real-world constraints that interventions can target to support healthier food choices in rural settings.

Keywords: food choice, healthy eating perceptions, meal ideals, participatory co-design, food choice barriers, rural food environment, Colombia

Study Overview

Research Context

In rural Colombia, we explored how adults define “healthy eating,” how they construct an “ideal day of eating,” and what barriers influence their food decisions.

Participants

41 adults (18-70 years) from three rural subregions of Antioquia, Colombia:

Methodology

Participatory co-design workshops with:

Nutritional benchmarking against Colombian standards:

Key Findings

Finding Description
“Fresh = Healthy” Participants consistently define healthy eating as “fresh” and “home-prepared”
Nutrient Gaps Co-designed menus showed less vegetables and dairy than recommended
Sodium Excess Ideal menus tended to exceed recommended sodium limits
Intention-Action Gap Self-ratings at 2.5-3.5/5.0 indicate perceived gap between ideals and practice
Real-World Barriers Cost, access, time, habits, and emotional strain — not lack of knowledge

Read the full paper (PDF)

Quantitative Analysis

Nutritional Benchmarking of Co-designed Menus

Comprehensive analysis comparing workshop meal patterns against Colombian dietary guidelines.

Analysis Components:

Resources:

Resource Description
Interactive Report Full Quarto analysis with integrated code
R Scripts All analysis scripts (01-04)
Graphs Publication-ready figures
Datasets Processed data (GABAS & RIEN)

Quick Start:

# Run complete analysis
Rscript "01_GenDataSet.R"            # Generate datasets
Rscript "02_Gen_Graph_RIEN.R"        # RIEN graphs
Rscript "03_Gen_Graph_GABAS.R"       # GABAS graphs
Rscript "04_Gen_Graph_Nutrients.R"   # Nutrient heatmap

Or view the interactive Quarto report for the complete analysis.

Qualitative Analysis

Thematic Analysis of Workshop Discussions

In-depth analysis of transcriptions to understand meanings, barriers, and decision-making processes.

Key Themes:

Theme Focus
Meanings How participants define “healthy eating”
Decision Rules Everyday heuristics guiding food choices
Barriers Affordability, access, time, taste, emotions
Gap Analysis Differences between ideals and practice

Available Materials:

View qualitative analysis directory

Participatory Workshops

Visual Documentation & Methodology

Explore the complete workshop gallery

Interactive co-design workshops conducted across three municipalities with rich visual documentation.

Workshop Activities:

  1. Ideal Meal Construction - Using visual food models and portion cards
  2. Menu Planning - Building complete daily menu with group consensus
  3. Self-Assessment - Rating diet-ideal alignment (1-5 scale)
  4. Barrier Mapping - Discussing real-world constraints

Workshop Materials:

Material Access
Participant Forms PDF templates
Photo Gallery Meal photos by region
Transcriptions Restricted access
Visual Guide Complete methodology

Open Data

Available Resources

Resource Type Description Location
Processed Datasets GABAS and RIEN calculations Analysis_Quantitative/
Food Group Data Servings from co-designed menus .rds and .xlsx files
Nutrient Estimates Adequacy calculations Included in datasets
R Scripts Complete analysis pipeline 01_GenDataSet.R through 04_*
Visual Data Workshop photos Pictures/
Forms & Templates Workshop materials Forms/

Reproducibility

All analyses are fully reproducible. Follow these guides:

Data Access

Most data is openly available in this repository. Some materials (transcriptions) have restricted access to protect participant privacy.

How to Cite

Paper Citation

APA:

Arcila-Agudelo, A.M., Cardona-Trujillo, H., Herazo-Castelblanco, A.S., 
Mejía-Gil, M.C., Muñoz-Mora, J.C., & Ortiz-Pradilla, T. (2026). 
"Healthy is fresh": A participatory study of meal ideals and barriers 
shaping food choice in rural Colombia. Food Policy, 199, 102756.

BibTeX:

@article{arcila2026healthy,
  title     = {"Healthy is fresh": A participatory study of meal ideals 
               and barriers shaping food choice in rural Colombia},
  author    = {Arcila-Agudelo, Ana Mar{\'i}a and Cardona-Trujillo, Harold 
               and Herazo-Castelblanco, Ana Sofia and Mej{\'i}a-Gil, 
               Mar{\'i}a Claudia and Mu{\~n}oz-Mora, Juan Carlos and 
               Ortiz-Pradilla, Tatiana},
  journal   = {Food Policy},
  volume    = {199},
  pages     = {102756},
  year      = {2026},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.foodpol.2026.102756}
}

Repository Citation

Use GitHub’s “Cite this repository” feature in the sidebar, or:

Arcila-Agudelo, A.M. et al. (2026). food-perception-rural-colombia: 
Online supplementary materials [Data and code]. GitHub. 
https://github.com/jcmunozmora/food-perception-rural-colombia

See CITATION.cff for structured metadata.

Contact & Support

Corresponding Author

Ana María Arcila-Agudelo
Email: ana.arcila@uniremington.edu.co
Corporación Universitaria Remington

Questions & Collaboration

📄 License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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