The present study was aimed at investigating what are the people’s levels of information about dietary fibre (DF) and how they relate to some fators that result from the people’s perceptions associated with the knowledge about DF.
The study consisted of a descriptive cross-sectional survey undertaken on a sample of over 6 thousand participants, original from 10 countries. Statistical techniques like factor analysis and cluster analysis were applied to the data.
Factor analysis showed that 10 out of the 12 variables used to measure the knowledge about DF could be grouped into 2 factors: one associated with health effects of DF and the other with its natural sources. The internal consistency of both factors was evaluated by the Cronbach’s alfa (0.854 and 0.644, respectively). Cluster analysis revealed that the participants could be divided into 3 groups: Cluster 1 – Good knowledge both about sources and health effects of DF; Cluster 2 – Good knowledge about the sources of DF but poor knowledge about its health effects; Cluster 3 – Poor knowledge both about sources and health effects of DF. The results were subject to analysis of stability by spliting the data set in 2 halfs. The cluster membership was found associated with living environment and level of education, but not with age, gender or country.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
