Mood foods: working mothers ' receptiveness to food with stress-relief properties

The purpose of this paper is to understand stress triggers frequently experienced by relatively affluent working mothers of young children, to explore the situational context surrounding the various coping strategies used and to assess the value of foods specifically targeted at affecting stress (i.e. “mood foods”). Women with young children were selected as the focus because the greater dependency of young children creates the potential for significant work-family conflicts.

A two-staged study explored the stressors that mothers with young children encounter and identified their means of coping. Four fruit-based products (atomiser, pill, chocolate, drink) were then presented and the mothers ' receptivity to them assessed.

Some common coping strategies were viewed positively as behaviours the women wished to retain, but other strategies such as crying, yelling/shouting or drinking alcohol involved behaviours with which they were less happy. Time restraints limited the choice of coping strategy. Over three-quarters of the women in the study were interested in a fruit-based product with naturally occurring stress-relief properties that could either replace these behaviours or be used in tandem with acceptable behaviours, preference depending on the situation.

Once beyond a conceptual stage, further research using techniques such as non-hypothetical markets should be conducted with a broader section of the public in order to determine the true value of such products.

The research demonstrates that the range of stress-relief strategies, and their use by women with young children are highly dependent on the situation. In addition, it confirms the willingness to try a novel fruit-based product that could assist in stress relief.