Browsing by Author "Vittadini, E."
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- Analysis of food buying behavior: A multinational study frameworkPublication . Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Ferreira, Manuela; Correia, Paula; Bartkiene, E.; Szucs, V.; Tarcea, M.; Ranilović, J.; Černelič-Bizjak, M.; Isoldi, K.; EL-Kenawy, A.; Ferreira, V.; Klava, D.; Korzeniowska, M.; Vittadini, E.; Leal, M.; Frez-Muñoz, L.; Papageorgiou, M.; Djekić, I.To make everyday food choices is a complex pro- cess, involving decisions which are influenced by distinct aspects associated with, among other fac- tors, purchasing ease, competitiveness of the mar- ket, advertising campaigns and marketing strategies, to mention a few related with aspects linked to com- mercialization. Hence, the objective of this study, which is integrated in the EATMOT project, was to as- sess some factors that influence food buying and food choice, in particular related with aspects such as price,convenience and marketing, as a function of some sociodemographic and geographic variables, namely, age, gender, marital status, level of education, living environment and country of residence. This study involved a questionnaire survey undertak- en on 11,960 participants from 16 countries. The in- strument used in this study was validated and trans- lated into the different languages of the participating countries, following double sided translation-checking methodology. The participants were from: Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and United States of America. The sample was selected by convenience and the partici- pation in the study was voluntary, being the question- naire applied only to adult citizens. Basic descriptive statistics were used for data analysis and the associ- ations between variables were investigated by cross- tabs and chi square tests. Additionally, a tree classifi- cation analysis was performed to assess the relative importance of each of the sociodemographic variables (gender, age group, level of education, country, living environment or marital status). The analysis followed the Classification and Regression Trees (CRT) algorithm with cross validation and the minimum number of cas- es considered for parent or child nodes was 100 and 50, respectively. For all data analysis, the software SPSS from IBM Inc. (version 25) was used and the level of sig- nificance considered was 5%. Results showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.0005) between groups for all sociodemographic vari- ables (gender, age, education, marital status, living en- vironment, country) in terms of the value attributed to convenience, price and marketing when buying foods. In most cases, the associations between the variables were considered very weak, although with a little high- er values for the associations between the country and variables “value convenience” (V = 0.179), “value price” (V = 0.158) and “value marketing” (V = 0.167). Tree clas- sification analysis confirmed for all three dependent variables that the most influential factor was country. This work highlighted that people in different coun - tries and from different sociodemographic groups show different motivations for buying food products.
- Cluster analysis to the factors related to information about food fi bers: A multinational studyPublication . Guiné, Raquel; Correia, Paula; Leal, M.; Rumbak, I.; Baric, I.; Komes, D.; Satalic, Z.; Saric, M.; Tarcea, M.; Fazakas, Z.; jovanoska, D.; Vanevski, D.; Vittadini, E.; Pellegrini, N.; Szucs, V.; Harangozo, J.; El-Kenawy, A.; El-Shenawy, O.; Yalcin, E.; Kosemeci, C.; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.; Ferreira, Manuela; Florença, S.The adequate intake of dietary fibres is essential to human health. Hence, this work intended to evaluate the level knowledge of about food fibres and investigate what factors might be associated with it. It was undertaken a descriptive cross-sectional study on a sample composed of 6,010 participants from ten different countries. The survey was based on a questionnaire of self-response, approved and complying with all ethical issues. The data collected were subjected to factor analysis and cluster analysis techniques. Validation was made by splitting the data set into two equal parts for confirmation of the results. Factor analysis allowed concluding that ten from the 12 variables used to measure the knowledge about dietary fibre should be grouped into two dimensions or factors: one linked to health effects of dietary fibre (α =0.854) and the other to its sources (α =0.644). Cluster analysis showed that the participants could be divided into three groups: Cluster 1 – Good knowledge both about sources and health effects of dietary fibre; Cluster 2 – Good knowledge about the sources of dietary fibre but poor knowledge about its health effects; Cluster 3 – Poor knowledge both about sources and health effects of dietary fibre. The data was appropriate for analysis by means of factor and cluster analysis, so that two factors and three clusters were clearly identified. Moreover, the cluster membership was found varying mostly according to country, living environment and level of education but not according to age or gender.
- Factor and cluster analysis to knowledge about dietary fibrePublication . Guiné, Raquel; Correia, Paula; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.; Szűcs, V.; Harangozó, J.; Tarcea, M.; Fazakas, Z.; Rumbak, I.; Barić, I. C.; Komes, D.; Satalić, Z.; Sarić, M. M.; Yalçın, E.; Kösemeci, C.; Leal, M.; Jovanoska, D.; Vanevski, D.; Vittadini, E.; Pellegrini, N.; EL-Kenawy, A.; EL-Shenawy, O.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.
- Food choices as influenced by environmental concerns: study involving participants from 16 countriesPublication . Guiné, Raquel; Ferreira, Manuela; Correia, Paula; Leal, M.; Ferreira, V.; Rumbak, I.; El-Kenawy, A.; Papageorgiou, M.; Szucs, V.; Vittadini, E.; Klava, D.; Bartkiene, E.; Munoz, L.; Korzeniowska, M.; Tarcea, M.; Djekić, I.; Bizjak, M.; Isoldi, K.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.
- Knowledge about dietary fibres (KADF): development and validation of an evaluation instrument through structural equation modelling (SEM)Publication . Guiné, Raquel; Duarte, J.; Ferreira, M.; Correia, P.; Leal, M.; Rumbak, I.; Barić, I.C.; Komes, D.; Satalić, Z.; Sarić, M.M.; Tarcea, M.; Fazakas, Z.; Jovanoska, D.; Vanevski, D.; Vittadini, E.; Pellegrini, N.; Szűcs, V.; Harangozó, J.; EL-Kenawy, A.; EL-Shenawy, O.; Yalçın, E.; Kösemeci, C.; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.Objectives: Because there is scientific evidence that an appropriate intake of dietary fibre should be part of a healthy diet, given its importance in promoting health, the present study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to evaluate the knowledge of the general population about dietary fibres. Study design: The present study was a cross sectional study. Methods: The methodological study of psychometric validation was conducted with 6010 participants, residing in ten countries from 3 continents. The instrument is a questionnaire of self-response, aimed at collecting information on knowledge about food fibres. For exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was chosen the analysis of the main components using varimax orthogonal rotation and eigenvalues greater than 1. In confirmatory factor analysis by structural equation modelling (SEM) was considered the covariance matrix and adopted the Maximum Likelihood Estimation algorithm for parameter estimation. Results: Exploratory factor analysis retained two factors. The first was called Dietary Fibre and Promotion of Health (DFPH) and included 7 questions that explained 33.94 % of total variance ( = 0.852). The second was named Sources of Dietary Fibre (SDF) and included 4 questions that explained 22.46% of total variance ( = 0.786). The model was tested by SEM giving a final solution with four questions in each factor. This model showed a very good fit in practically all the indexes considered, except for the ratio 2/df. The values of average variance extracted (0.458 and 0.483) demonstrate the existence of convergent validity; the results also prove the existence of discriminant validity of the factors (r2 = 0.028) and finally good internal consistency was confirmed by the values of composite reliability (0.854 and 0.787). Conclusions: This study allowed validating the KADF scale, increasing the degree of confidence in the information obtained through this instrument in this and in future studies.
- Knowledge about sources of dietary fibres and health effects using a validated scale: a cross-country studyPublication . Guiné, Raquel; Duarte, J.; Ferreira, M.; Correia, P.; Leal, M.; Rumbak, I.; Barić, I.C.; Komes, D.; Satalić, Z.; Sarić, M.M.; Tarcea, M.; Fazakas, Z.; Jovanoska, D.; Vanevski, D.; Vittadini, E.; Pellegrini, N.; Szűcs, V.; Harangozó, J.; EL-Kenawy, A.; EL-Shenawy, O.; Yalçın, E.; Kösemeci, C.; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.Objectives Dietary fibre (DF) is one of the components of diet that strongly contributes to health improvements, particularly on the gastrointestinal system. Hence, this work intended to evaluate the relations between some sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, level of education, living environment or country on the levels of knowledge about dietary fibre (KADF), its sources and its effects on human health, using a validated scale. Study design The present study was a cross-sectional study. Methods A methodological study was conducted with 6010 participants, residing in 10 countries from different continents (Europe, America, Africa). The instrument was a questionnaire of self-response, aimed at collecting information on knowledge about food fibres. The instrument was used to validate a scale (KADF) which model was used in the present work to identify the best predictors of knowledge. The statistical tools used were as follows: basic descriptive statistics, decision trees, inferential analysis (t-test for independent samples with Levene test and one-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons post hoc tests). Results The results showed that the best predictor for the three types of knowledge evaluated (about DF, about its sources and about its effects on human health) was always the country, meaning that the social, cultural and/or political conditions greatly determine the level of knowledge. On the other hand, the tests also showed that statistically significant differences were encountered regarding the three types of knowledge for all sociodemographic variables evaluated: age, gender, level of education, living environment and country. Conclusions The results showed that to improve the level of knowledge the actions planned should not be delineated in general as to reach all sectors of the populations, and that in addressing different people, different methodologies must be designed so as to provide an effective health education.
- Level of information about dietary fibre: a study involving 10 CountriesPublication . Guiné, Raquel; Leal, Marcela; Rumbak, I.; Baric, I.; Komes, D.; Satalic, Z.; Saric, M.; Tarcea, M.; Fazakas, Z.; Jovanoska, D.; Vanevski, D.; Yalcin, E.; Vittadini, E.; Pellegrini, N.; Szucs, V.; Harangozo, J.; El-Kenawy, A.; El-Shenawy, O.; yalcin, E.; Kosemeci, C.; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.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.
- Marketing motivations influencing food choice in 16 countries: segmentation and cluster analysis.Publication . Henriques, Carla; Matos, Ana; Malva, Madalena; Bartkiene, E.; Djekic, I.; Tarcea, M.; Saric, M.; Bizjak, M.; Dolar, V.; EL-Kenawy, A.; Ferreira, V.; Klava, D.; Korzeniowska, M.; Vittadini, E.; Leal, M.; Frez-Muñoz, L.; Papageorgiou, M.; Guiné, RaquelFood behaviour is governed by different kinds of motivations, some of individual nature and others related with the external food environment. This study investigated the eating motivations in sixteen countries with respect to commercial and marketing influences on food choices. The questionnaire survey was developed between September 2017 and June 2018, via online tools, targeting a convenience sample of residents in sixteen countries (Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the United States of America). The number of valid responses received was 11,919 participants. The data were treated using SPSS software, and the main statistical techniques used included exploratory factor analysis, evaluation of internal reliability through Cronbach’s alpha, cluster analysis (hierarchical and k-means) and logistic regression. The results obtained showed two groups of people: low motivated and notably motivated consumers. The results showed high asymmetries between countries, with highest percentage of highly motivated consumers in Egypt and the lowest percentage of highly motivated in Portugal. It was further observed that consumers more influenced by commercial and marketing aspects (the notably motivated) tend to be women, young, single, less educated, less likely to be professionally active, and those who live mostly in rural or suburban areas. Less exercise and overweight are also factors associated with greater propensity for commercial and marketing motivations. Furthermore, health problems such as shellfish or gluten intolerance, hypertension and high cholesterol confer less propensity to be in the segment of the notably motivated consumers. In conclusion, this work highlighted the role of geographic, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors as food choice determinants.
- Sources of Information about Dietary Fibre: A Cross-Country SurveyPublication . Ferreira, M.; Guiné, Raquel; Duarte, J.; Correia, P.; Leal, M.; Baric, I.C.; Komes, D.; Saric, M.M.; Tarcea, M.; Fazakas, Z.; Jovanoska, D.; Vanevski, D.; Vittadini, E.; Pellegrini, N.; Szűcs, V.; Harangozo, J.; EL-Kenawy, A.; EL-Shenawy, O.; Yalcin, E.; Kosemeci, C.; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.Dietary fibre (DF) has been recognized as a major determinant for improvement of health. Hence the means of information through which people become aware of its benefits are crucial. This work aimed at studying the sources of information about DF, as a means to educate people about aspects related to healthy eating. Factors such as gender, level of education, living environment or country were evaluated as to their effect on the selection of sources and preferences. For this, a descriptive cross-sectional study by means of a questionnaire, applied to a non-probabilistic sample of 6010 participants from 10 countries in different continents (Europe, Africa and America), answered after informed consent by all participants. For the analysis were used several descriptive statistics tools, crosstabs and chi square test to assess the relations between some of the variables under study. The results showed that mostly the information about DF comes from the internet, but the participants recognize that television might be a most suitable way to disseminate information about DF. The results also indicated differences between genders, levels of education, living environments and countries. The internet, the preferred source of information, got highest scores for Hungary, for urban areas, for university level of education and for female gender. The radio, the least scored source of information, was preferred in Egypt, for men and with lower education (primary school). As a conclusion, people get information through the internet due to easy access. However, it is to some extent a risk given the impossibility to control de information made public on the internet. The role of health centers and hospitals as well as schools should definitely be increased, as a responsible way to ensure correct information.
- The eating motivations scale (EATMOT): Development and validation by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM)Publication . Guiné, Raquel; Duarte, João; Ferrão, Ana Cristina; Ferreira, Manuela; Correia, Paula; Cardoso, Ana Paula; Bartkiene, E.; Szucs, V.; Nemes, L.; Ljubicic, M.; Bizjac, M.; Isoldi, K.; El-Kenawy, A.; Ferreira, V.; Straumite, E.; Korzeniowska, M.; Vittadini, E.; Leal, M.; Frez-Munoz, L.; Papageorgiou, M.; Djekic, I.Introduction: The objective was to develop and validate an instrument that measures different determinants of people’s food choices and simultaneously accounts for a variety of factors: health, emotions, price and availability, society and culture, environment and politics, and marketing and advertising. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study focusing on food choice determinants. It was carried out in 16 countries in 2017 and 2018. This study included 11,960 volunteer adult participants from different countries. The data was validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: Validation using CFA with SEM revealed that multi-factor modelling produced first- and second-order models that could be used to define the EATMOT scale, the first presenting better fitting indices, with the goodness-of-fit and comparative-fit indices very close to 1, as well as root-mean-square-error-of-approximation, root-mean-square-residual and standardised-root-mean-square-residual at practically zero. Conclusion: The validated EATMOT scale guarantees confidence in the information obtained through this instrument, and can be used in future studies to better understand food choice determinants in different geographical areas and help plan strategies to improve healthy eating patterns and diminish the burden of non-communicable diseases.