Determinants of information behaviour and information literacy related to healthy eating among Internet users in five European countries

Introduction. This study investigates how Europeans seek information related to healthy eating, what determines their information seeking and whether any problems are encountered in doing so. Method. A survey was administered through computer-assisted on-line web-interviewing. Respondents were grouped by age and sex (n=3003, age + 16) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and the UK. Analysis. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyse the influence of social, demographic, psychological and economic characteristics on the information seeking of the respondents. Results. Nearly half of those surveyed do not know where to look for information on healthy diets. Men, less well educated, poorer and sicker person know less about where to look for such information and are less likely to attempt finding it. Most of the respondents searching for information on the Internet use Google as a search tool. Conclusions. Individual and environmental factors affect information behaviour and should be taken into account in public campaigns aimed at changing eating habits of the population to increase their effectiveness. More emphasis should be placed on raising health information literacy of the information-poor, men, the uneducated, and the economically disadvantaged

Zachowania informacyjne Polaków dotyczące zdrowego odżywiania się. Wyniki badania EATWELL

Information behaviour of Poles in area of healthy eating. Results of EATWELL surveyThe rate of obesity in Poland increases rapidly, especially fast among children and adolescents. An important and also fully accepted by the society ways of fighting this phenomenon are social marketing and educational interventions. To make these activities effective they have to keep pace with changes in information behavior of target groups. But the importance of raising information competency of consumers is not fully understood by those who design and implement health programs and health Information behavior and literacy rarely are the subject of research. The goal of this study is to find where and how Polish citizens look for diet related information, what barriers they encounter, and whether they behave differently in comparison with citizens of other European countries. Method: A survey administered through computer-assisted on-line web-interviewing to a probabilistic, stratified by age and gender, sample of respondents in Poland (n = 600). Comparison sample – same number of respondents in Belgium, Denmark, Italy and UK. Results: 49% of surveyed Poles do not know where to look for healthy diet related information and have bigger problems with this task then the respondents in other surveyed countries. In comparison with Danish, a probability that a Pole knows where to look for such information decreases twice. Individual and environmental determinants strongly affect information knowledge and behavior. Men, educated, poorer and sicker persons have bigger problems with finding information and are less likely to attempt to look for it. Majority of respondents uses Internet and Google to look for healthy diet information. Only 23% of Polish respondents would turn to their GPs for healthy eating advice

Information behaviour of Poles in area of healthy eating : results of EATWELL survey

The rate of obesity in Poland increases rapidly, especially fast among children and adolescents. An important and also fully accepted by the society ways of fighting this phenomenon are social marketing and educational interventions. To make these activities effective they have to keep pace with changes in information behavior of target groups. But the importance of raising information competency of consumers is not fully understood by those who design and implement health programs and health Information behavior and literacy rarely are the subject of research. The goal of this study is to find where and how Polish citizens look for diet related information, what barriers they encounter, and whether they behave differently in comparison with citizens of other European countries. Method: A survey administered through computer-assisted on-line web-interviewing to a probabilistic, stratified by age and gender, sample of respondents in Poland (n = 600). Comparison sample – same number of respondents in Belgium, Denmark, Italy and UK. Results: 49% of surveyed Poles do not know where to look for healthy diet related information and have bigger problems with this task then the respondents in other surveyed countries. In comparison with Danish, a probability that a Pole knows where to look for such information decreases twice. Individual and environmental determinants strongly affect information knowledge and behavior. Men, educated, poorer and sicker persons have bigger problems with finding information and are less likely to attempt to look for it. Majority of respondents uses Internet and Google to look for healthy diet information. Only 23% of Polish respondents would turn to their GPs for healthy eating advice

The role of logistics in promoting Italian agribusiness: The Belt and Road Initiative case study

The increasing policy interest in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has stimulated an interesting debate in the research community. Although there are numerous studies focusing on this issue, in literature little attention has been devoted to the impact of the initiative on the performances of Italian firms involved in agribusiness. In order to bridge this gap, this paper focuses on wine as a high-quality commodity exported all over the world and considered an epitome of Made in Italy. Furthermore, ports of Venice and Trieste was selected for the analyses as being part of BRI agreements. This study highlights that the BRI project may modify land use planning as a consequence of the policymakers’ choosing a specific port to serve as the Italian connection to the BRI. The heterogeneity that might influence regional data needs the usage of specific approaches (the order-α and order-m) to evaluate the firms’ efficiency as a consequence of two different links to the ports of Trieste and Venice. The authors attempt to perform this investigation considering the predicted effects of the BRI, and several different databases are used to examine these potential effects. The evaluation of accessibility in terms of distance and transport time could provide helpful details to policymakers when looking at different BRI alternatives. To achieve the analysis, the authors also consider dimensions connected to specific financial statements and labour, environmental and business innovation indicators. The results reveal that, when the scenario involves a specific port, some differences appear in the ranking of firms. The findings also show that the spatial effect connected to the choice of a specific port decreases for small firms. Since the Italian agribusiness sector – specifically the wine sector – is characterized by a prevalence of small and/or family firms, it is recommended that policymakers deal with the conclusions of present research to compare different BRI options from a land use point of view

The University Degree in Environment and workplace prevention techniques: a quasi unicum Course in the European panorama for non-medical professionals involved in prevention activities

The University Degree programme in Environment and workplace prevention techniques (Tecniche della Prevenzione nell'Ambiente e nei Luoghi di Lavoro) is a 3-year course established in Italy in 2000 by the Ministry of University to train healthcare professionals responsible for prevention activities such as environment and food controls, and workplaces prevention, operating both in the National Health Service and in private settings. Frontal teaching activities and training programmes include a background in bio-medical sciences, epidemiology, public health, social sciences and law, including the inspection and control tasks of health and safety in living and working environment, food hygiene, environmental controls and veterinary public health, which represent the field of specific competences of graduates. Currently, 38 courses have been activated in 30 Italian Universities, but relatively few similar courses are present in Europe (similar programmes were found in France, Spain, UK and Belgium) causing the lack of internalization and student exchange programmes. It is essential to identify similar training tasks in other European countries, in order to enhance cultural exchanges and the development of research activities in these strategic areas

Zochowania informacyjne Polaków dotyczące zdrowego odżywiania : wyniki badania EATWELL

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What is the public appetite for healthy eating policies? Evidence from a cross-European survey

World Health Organization estimates that obesity accounts for 2-8% of health care costs in different parts of Europe, and highlights a key role for national policymaking in curbing the epidemic. A variety of healthy-eating policy instruments are available, ranging from more paternalistic policies to those less intrusive. Our aim is to measure and explain the level of public support for different types of healthy eating policy in Europe, based on data from a probabilistic sample of 3003 respondents in five European countries. We find that the main drivers of policy support are attitudinal factors, especially attribution of obesity to excessive availability of unhealthy foods, while socio-demographic characteristics and political preferences have little explanatory power. A high level of support for healthy eating policy does not translate into acceptance of higher taxes to fund them, however

Assessment of evaluations made to healthy eating policies in Europe: a review within the EATWELL Project

Objective: To identify and assess healthy eating policies at national level which have been evaluated in terms of their impact on awareness of healthy eating, food consumption, health outcome or cost/benefit. Design: Review of policy documents and their evaluations when available. Setting: European Member States. Subjects: One hundred and twenty-one policy documents revised, 107 retained. Results: Of the 107 selected interventions, twenty-two had been evaluated for their impact on awareness or knowledge and twenty-seven for their impact on consumption. Furthermore sixteen interventions provided an evaluation of health impact, while three actions specifically measured any cost/benefit ratio. The indicators used in these evaluations were in most cases not comparable. Evaluation was more often found for public information campaigns, regulation of meals at schools/canteens and nutrition education programmes. Conclusions: The study highlights the need not only to develop harmonized and verifiable procedures but also indicators for measuring effectiveness and success and for comparing between interventions and countries. EU policies are recommended to provide a set of indicators that may be measured consistently and regularly in all countries. Furthermore, public information campaigns should be accompanied by other interventions, as evaluations may show an impact on awareness and intention, but rarely on consumption patterns and health outcome