Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Cathy Anstrom

Dr. Kristian Veit

Project Type

Departmental Honors project

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery

Presentation Type

Poster Session

Abstract

Learning Objective: To determine which of the presented demographic and social factors correlate with GS or gluten misconceptions to discover potential contributors of GS.

Background: With an increase in GS cases, an exploration and understanding of how demographic and social factors such as gender, ethnicity, economic status, family/friend behavior, and social media correlate with GS and the perception of gluten was sought after.

Method: The researcher constructed a survey that was reviewed by 13 individuals for content, clarity, and internal consistency. The survey was sent out to the student body (2,658) at a small Midwestern university. The final number of participants was 176. Questions covering demographics, social backgrounds, GS, social media, and perception of gluten were included. Differences between groups (those with GS and those without) were analyzed using independent samples t-tests. The relationship and association between variables were analyzed using the two-way chi square test and phi coefficient, respectively.

Results: Participants were more likely to report GS if they grew up with someone who had GS, X2 (1, N=172) = 34.8, p = < .001. A strong positive association between the variables was determined (φ = 0.45). People with GS reported following more GS/gluten-free diet promoting celebrities and influencers on social media (M=3.44, SD=9.8) than people who did not report having GS (M=0.78, SD=1.73); t (165) = -2.99, p =.003; d = 0.59.

Conclusion: Results suggest that social factors such as the incidence of GS within the family and the number of GS/gluten-free diet promoting celebrities and influencers followed on social media do correlate with GS. The findings support the need for additional research to explore the relationship between these social factors and GS.

Note: This poster was accepted to be presented at the Food and Nutrition Expo and Conference (FNCE, National Conference) in October 2022 in Orlando, Florida.

Permission Type

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

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Apr 7th, 2:00 PM Apr 7th, 3:30 PM

How Demographic and Social Factors Correlate With the Perception of Gluten and Gluten Sensitivity (GS)

Fishbowl

Learning Objective: To determine which of the presented demographic and social factors correlate with GS or gluten misconceptions to discover potential contributors of GS.

Background: With an increase in GS cases, an exploration and understanding of how demographic and social factors such as gender, ethnicity, economic status, family/friend behavior, and social media correlate with GS and the perception of gluten was sought after.

Method: The researcher constructed a survey that was reviewed by 13 individuals for content, clarity, and internal consistency. The survey was sent out to the student body (2,658) at a small Midwestern university. The final number of participants was 176. Questions covering demographics, social backgrounds, GS, social media, and perception of gluten were included. Differences between groups (those with GS and those without) were analyzed using independent samples t-tests. The relationship and association between variables were analyzed using the two-way chi square test and phi coefficient, respectively.

Results: Participants were more likely to report GS if they grew up with someone who had GS, X2 (1, N=172) = 34.8, p = < .001. A strong positive association between the variables was determined (φ = 0.45). People with GS reported following more GS/gluten-free diet promoting celebrities and influencers on social media (M=3.44, SD=9.8) than people who did not report having GS (M=0.78, SD=1.73); t (165) = -2.99, p =.003; d = 0.59.

Conclusion: Results suggest that social factors such as the incidence of GS within the family and the number of GS/gluten-free diet promoting celebrities and influencers followed on social media do correlate with GS. The findings support the need for additional research to explore the relationship between these social factors and GS.

Note: This poster was accepted to be presented at the Food and Nutrition Expo and Conference (FNCE, National Conference) in October 2022 in Orlando, Florida.