Comparison of the ingestion of fibre rich foods in different countries

Introduction: The ingestion of fruits, vegetables and cereals, especially whole grain, is associated with a healthy lifestyle and has been recognized as having multiple health benefits, associated, among others, to the ingestion of adequate amounts of dietary fibre. Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate some eating habits related to fibre rich foods in six different countries: Argentina, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal and Romania. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out by means of questionnaire survey applied to a sample of 4905 participants, all over the age of 18 years old. The preparation and application of the questionnaire followed the necessary ethical guidelines and the treatment was made by SPSS. Results: The results showed that for the global sample was observed a low ingestion of salads and vegetables (78.2%), being this particularly problematic for Croatia (86.6%). Regarding the consumption of fruits, for the whole sample the great majority also showed a low consumption (92.3%), and for Latvian participants the percentage is very much expressive (98.3%). As for the consumption of whole cereals, most participants also showed a low consumption, either for the global sample (72.6%) or in the different countries, and particularly for Latvia (90.0%). Some eating habits were also studied and it was observed that for the whole sample 71.9% showed a low frequency of meals ate out of home, while 88.6% revealed acceptable frequency of eating fast food, i.e, only once or twice a week. Conclusions: The results indicated that in the countries at study the ingestion of foods rich in dietary fibre is very low, and therefore it is necessary to implement strategies to increase the consumption of such foods.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Level of information about dietary fibre: a study involving 10 Countries

Introduction: Dietary fibre (DF) is recognized as healthy for long, so that health claims are allowed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) due to its proved benefits, extended but not only confined to many diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Objective: This work intended to analyse the level of information about DF in 10 countries, situated in Europe, Africa and South America. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken through a survey based on a questionnaire of self-response applied to a sample of 6010 participants. The data were lately treated by factor and cluster analyses, including validation methodologies. Results: Factor analysis showed that ten of the twelve items used to assess the knowledge about DF could be arranged into two factors: one related to health effects (α =0.854) and the other to the sources (α =0.644). Furthermore, cluster analysis showed that the participants could be divided into three groups: 1) Good knowledge about sources and health effects of DF; 2) Good knowledge about the sources of DF but poor knowledge about the health effects; 3) Poor knowledge about the sources and health effects of DF. Conclusions: The results clearly allowed identifying two factors and three clusters, and the variables that most influenced cluster membership were country, living environment and level of education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Is Better Knowledge about Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber Related to Food Labels Reading Habits? A Croatian Overview

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the associations between health dietary patterns, knowledge, and consumption of dietary fiber (DF) with frequency of food label reading on food products with special reference to DF. The study was conducted in 2536 Croatian adults using an original questionnaire. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess associations between food label reading habits and predictor variables. Our study confirms the association between habits regarding the reading of labels on food products, especially in relation to information about DF with the sociodemographic factors of respondents, dietary food patterns and DF consumption, as well as knowledge and sources of information about DF. Women, individuals with a university-level education, and those living in an urban environment had more frequent labels used. Food habits as well as eating outside of the home were positive predictors while eating fast food was a negative predictor of food label reading. Knowledge about DF, especially about its health benefits, was also associated with food label reading. The interpretation of associations could help with the design of effective public health programs. Targeted education campaigns to educate and sensitize the population about food labeling and monitoring may improve general knowledge about healthy food and its benefits, which include indirect effects on the prevention of non-communicable chronic diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparative study about some eating habits in six countries: eating out and fast food consumption

Poor diets have proven very detrimental for the maintenance of good health and eating an excessive amount of fast food and highly processed meals can harm the general health status of the population. Hence, this work investigates the habits related to eating outside the home and frequency of eating fast food meals in participants from six different countries. A cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken on a sample of 4,904 adult participants. For the data treatment, basic statistics were complemented with tree classification analysis, using the CRT algorithm. This study concluded that in the sample under study the frequency of eating out of home was in general low, corresponding to four or fewer times per week for 71.9% of the participants, and the consumption of fast food meals was also acceptable, i.e., with a low frequency of up to two times per week in 88.6% of the respondents. The biggest differences were encountered when comparing participants from different age groups, countries or sexes, and not so much for living environment or education level. Tree classification analysis highlighted the relative importance of the considered factors for eating out and fast food meals, being country and age confirmed as the most influential factors. In the evaluated sample the incidence of eating out and fast food meals were low, which is a good indicator to contribute globally for the good health status of the participants involved in the study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Food choices as influenced by environmental concerns: study involving participants from 16 countries

The activities related to food production, processing, handling, transportation, storage and disposal of food products have an important impact on sustainability. Hence, people’s food choices also contribute for the definition of the extension of this impact and therefore this work aimed at studying some motivations that influence people’s eating habits. This was an observational, cross-sectional study, undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 11960 participants form 16 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, United States of America). The survey was undertaken by means of a questionnaire of self-response, applied only to adult citizens. The results obtained indicated that a great number of participants admit to shape their food choices according to some environmental concerns, like, for example, they prefer foods from the season or those that comply with sustainable processing and packaging. Regarding the food surplus, this seems a priority to avoid at home, but not so much when it comes to restaurants. Factor analysis indicated two types of concerns: Purely Environmental Concerns (PEC) and Sustainability allied to Quality Concerns (SQC), and cluster analysis showed that 54% of the participants tend to make their food choices considering both types of concerns, which is very expressive and positive towards sustainability of the food chain.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Environmental Issues as Drivers for Food Choice: Study from a Multinational Framework

This work intended to explore some motivations that influence people’s eating habits to- wards sustainability. This was an observational, cross-sectional study, carried out by questionnaire survey on a non-probabilistic sample of 10,067 participants from 13 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania and United States). Results indicated that people prefer fresh local foods from the season, being im- portant because it allows transportation and storage to be reduced, which in many cases implies refrigeration systems and consequent energy expenditure. Although people avoid food waste at home, the awareness for the waste at restaurants still needs to be improved. Consumers seem to prefer foods that have been produced and packed in sustainable ways but still give importance to the package—understandable for food products. The results also indicated significant differences in the food choice motivations between groups for all sociodemographic variables tested (age, sex, marital status, education, professional area, living environment and country), but the association was high only for variable country. Additionally, a tree classification analysis allowed to identify the relative importance of the influential variables on the sustainable food choices, with country being the most important, followed by age and sex. Additionally, discriminant function analysis allowed establishing a model for the relation between country and six variables accounting for preservation of biodiversity, respect for life, save natural resources, save energy, reduce industrial pollution and minimal packaging. Although with some limitations, this study brings valuable in- sight into some aspects linked with sustainable food choices on a number of countries and how people shape their food choices according to some sustainability issues.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tracheostomy In Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: When And Where?

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