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Examination of consumer preferences in relation to plant-based diet
3-20Views:651Today, non-communicable, chronic diseases have become the number one causes of death worldwide. But while the problem is receding in developed, more civilized countries, the so called civilization diseases have shifted towards less developed societies, thus spreading throughout the world. One of the main sources of the problem is unhealthy nutrition, so compiling the right diet can reduce the spread and severity of chronic diseases. Within the framework of this article, we deal with plant-based nutrition and its characteristics. Our aim was to get to know the motivations and opinions of those who consider themselves (to be) vegetarian, and to a lesser extent those of the omnivorous groups in relation to plant-based (vegetarian) diets. One of our main findings was that vegetarians follow a plant-based diet primarily for physical and mental health, with almost two-thirds strictly adhering to their diet and the price level of which they do not consider more expensive than the omnivorous diet. Another important result was that the majority of those who followed the plant-based diet declared their diet to be healthy and themselves to be health-conscious. Based on the results, it can be stated that the followers of the plant-based diet are very satisfied with their own diet.
JEL codes: I10, I12 -
Beliefs and Misbeliefs About Plant-Based Diet Relying on the Results of an Online Research
65-77Views:550A main current trend is healthy lifestyle and the consumption of fruit and vegetables. The assessment of healthiness of plant-based diet is not so obvious either among the population or food experts. In an online survey the knowledge, beliefs and misbeliefs about plant-based diet were analysed among members and non-members of online social media lifestyles groups. All in all, it can be stated that there are no significant relationships and differences between knowledge, attitude and perception of members and non-members. Social media users are aware of the different types of plant-based diet (vegetarian, vegan) and the positive and negative psychological effects. The associations connected to plant-based diet are the following: healthy, environmentally friendly and expensive. Only a small segment of Hungarian people follow plant-based diet. At the same the diverse and everyday consumption of fruit and vegetables is essential because of health and sustainability issues. Due to conscious nutrition and more plant-based diet, people can contribute to the protection of their own health and the Earth.
JEL Classification: M31
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Bread and Baked Goods Consumption Habits in the Gluten Free Diet
77-89Views:268Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder which is the result of an immune system response to the ingestion of gluten in susceptible persons. Gluten is a generalised term that describes the storage proteins found in the common cereal grains: wheat, rye, barley and their derivatives. This disease is permanent and damage to the small intestine always occurs when gluten is consumed, regardless of whether symptoms are present or not. Celiac disease affects about 1 in 100 individuals worldwide. In Hungary 1-2 percent of the population is affected. The only treatment for people with celiac disease is lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet. On a gluten-free diet, wheat, rye, barley and any foods or ingredients derived from them must be removed from the diet. Bread is basic and frequently consumed food made from wheat. Bread and salty and sweet baked goods are an essential part of the Hungarian eating habits. The market of gluten-free foods is continuously increasing worldwide. Among the reasons behind this trend the increasing number of diagnosed persons, their family members (with whom they eat together), healthy lifestyle and fashion lifestyle have to be pointed out. Several gluten-free bread and baked goods brands are available on the Hungarian market. The ingredients, texture, colour, softness of the available breads and baked goods are rather different. There is a big choice of gluten-free flour mixtures on the Hungarian market, as well. The compositions of these mixtures are also rather different. The aim of our empirical research was to investigate the gluten free bread and baked goods consumption habits of people following gluten-free diet.
JEL codes: I12, M31
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Hungarian The Prominent Role of Diet and Exercise in the Healthy Lifestyle
49-60Views:1313Lifestyle-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular or stress-related diseases, or osteoporosis, are well-known to everyone, in the prevention or development of which lifestyle elements such as diet or exercise play a key role. In order to prevent the development of these diseases mentioned above, we should pay enough attention to a healthy lifestyle and prevention. In today’s modern world, we already have a wealth of knowledge that contributes largely to the prevention of said diseases, however, many people still struggle with them. An important factor is that regular exercise and a healthy diet help to create a healthier lifestyle and play a protective role against a wide range of diseases.
JEL Codes: I10, I12, I19 -
Attitudes of Alternative Diet Followers Towards Purchasing Local Products
3-15Views:395Earth’s population has been growing steadily over the last centuries, with increasing demand for food production. For this reason, despite the current technological progress, even more and more cultivated lands are needed. The purpose of our research is to examine the proportion of local products that are being used by those who follow different alternative diets, which can also be used to test the behaviour towards sustainability. In order to reach our goals, we have developed a national survey including 504 Hungarian consumers. The survey consists of several questions about alternative diets, food-oriented lifestyle, and local products. The answers were weighted in order to properly represent the gender distribution of the population and were analysed using descriptive statistics and factor analysis. According to the results, environmental conscious behaviour appears among the alternative diet followers, but for sustainability this is not a sufficient condition. Local products are bought by 82.9% of the respondents. The biggest incentives of buying local products are the origin, the support of local producers / merchants, the reduction of food kilometres, the healthy and natural characteristics of the products, and the positive experiences with local products. In contrast, the reasons why local products are mostly refused by consumers are the facts that they are time consuming and difficult to obtain.
JEL codes: C38, D70, I12, M31, Q56
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Investigating the Dietary Practice of Students at the University of Debrecen
39-50Views:775Nowadays, the importance of food in the preservation and restoration of health has become more and more important, as the number of people suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular disease and various food allergies is increasing. In many cases, there is a problem with what is the recommended range of foods, and what is (the meaning of) a healthy and health-conscious diet. The focus of our study is on the nutritional habits of young university students, as the health consciousness of this age group plays a prominent role at both domestic and international level. The primary purpose of the research is to map the daily dietary habits university students in Debrecen to the recommendations of the nutritional pyramid of dietary nutrition and good nutrition created by dietitians. The basis of our primary study was the observational procedure by creating a food diary and fill it with the randomly chosen students, during which we could observe the quality and quantity of food consumed by them during their daily meals. On the basis of the results, the dietitians expected and actual food consumption in the case of the target group were able to compared, on the basis of which it can be concluded that the eating habits of the university students of Debrecen fall short of the healthy eating recommendation.
JEL Codes: A13, P56
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Functional Foods, Consumer Attitudes and Personalized Nutrition
3-17Views:490The dramatic spread of the so called diseases of civilization have occurred in the last decade worldwide. Deaths caused by them have long been of the highest rate among all causes of deaths. In parallel with the spread of the diseases of civilization, population of developed countries is increasingly ageing that increases the number of inactives and those who rely on health treatment. The outlined factors pose new challenges to the food industry: it requires the development new foods that slow down the spread of the diseases of civilization that hit the humankind through their health care effect, and at the same time provide longer life in health for the ageing societies. In the decade after decoding the human genome an extremely rapid development occurred in the techniques of genomics, and in the disciplines applying genomics methods. Researches in genomics focus on how the human genome interacts with the environmental factors for determining the gene expression. Nutrition as one of the most important environmental factors has an obvious impact on the health but we have not known yet exactly what this impact is and what its mechanism is. The so called nutrigenomics – that is a new discipline – aims to reveal the relationships that are not yet known. The personalized nutrition is a conception that adapts the diet, the foods, and the nutrients to the unique needs of the specific person.
The authors examined the relationships between the functional foods, consumer attitudes and personalized nutrition in the framework of a nation-wide representative consumer survey of 500 people. According to the results majority of the consumers (73.8%) believes that her/him nutrition (diet) follows a normal structure and all that she/he needs enters her/his body automatically. Knowing the critical health state of the population it can be stated that the high agreement portion is based on misbelieves. This is also indicated by the fact that 57.4% of consumers only eats foods that tastes good, even when it is supposedly less healthy. In the next half year almost 50% of the Hungarian population do not intend to switch to a nutrition considered healthier by themselves. Further 22% of the respondents already feel some urge to change their behavior, they compare the costs and the potential benefits of change. Only 5.0% of the interviewees switched to a nutrition considered healthier by themselves in the last six months, and the rate of those who maintain the positive change is 17.4%.
In the current situation there is no other option than raising awareness of the population for foods that provide excess nutrition benefits. These are the functional foods that hold important position in the education to healthy nutrition of the population. However, it is does matter in which strategy they are used by the enterprises. This applies for the development of both new technologies and new functional foods where involvement of consumers is inevitable today.
The so called perception screening theory answers the solution of the anomalies between the scientific objectivity and the consumer perception. We tried to apply the perception screening theory in a new discipline, entirely unknown to the consumers. The nutrition genomics and its major application area, the personalized nutrition are novel concepts to the population to such an extent that preferences and attitudes related to them have not occurred yet. This is why it could be interesting which most important psychological processes are the ones that can lead to the adoption of the new technology, and the development of the positive consumer attitudes. According to the results Hungarian consumers are mistrustful against the new technology and they are uncertain – despite its obvious advantages. The not so positive attitude is likely caused by more factors together. Traditional thinking, reluctance to the new play a role in it as well as the lack of information and misbelieves related to the genetic tests. The technology is novel to the consumers to such an extent that we found significant differences between the consumer segments only in some cases, i.e. consumer preferences cannot be classified, they are highly scattered. Finally, the authors developed an optimized practical model by which the successful launch of a new functional food and its hindering factors can be securely forecasted. -
Changes in Dietary Habits During the Pandemic
39-53Views:360The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the daily lives of the population, primarily due to the disease control measures. The focus has shifted to health protective factors, with a healthy diet playing a key role in increasing the human body's resistance to pathogens. In addition, being overweight has a negative impact on the course of the disease, making the virus an even greater threat to our society. Our aim was to examine how the pandemic has changed our daily diet, with a particular focus on fruit and vegetable consumption. Data collection included both secondary and primary research. With 242 responses, our primary analysis was conducted using an online questionnaire. The results showed, that half of the respondents had changed their eating habits and one third had gained extra weight during the pandemic. A higher percentage regard their fruit and vegetable consumption as sufficient enough, while only 29.6% think they are eating the daily recommended amount. The results showed that there is a lack of awareness among respondents of the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables, which is a fundamental problem in terms of dietary health.
JEL Code: I12
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Examination and Consumers’ Evaluation of New Pilot Products from Pseudocereals
57-68Views:147Nowadays the importance of the use of pseudocereals is increasing, especially in the diet of health conscious consumers and those who follow reform diet. In our research we produced pilot products with health-beneficial properties. The main ingredients were pseudocereals, such as buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa flour, and our aim was to get more information about their possible uses in nutrition. These grains have typical (buckwheat) or bitter taste (amaranth), therefore our second aim was to survey the consumers’ opinions, which help us to determine further direction of development. In our research we produced bakery pilot products from the previously defined mixtures of different gluten free flours and natural additives, taking into account the consumer’s demands, because more and more people are looking for the opportunity to reduce the gluten intake improving their health condition. Physical and chemical parameters of pilot products were determined. Finally, we evaluated the consumers’ opinions by a sensory test and questionnaire, therefore, we got results not only about the quality of products but the consumers’ preference orders too.
JEL Code: I19
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Production, Trade and Consumption of Functional Foods in Hungary
3-6Views:233Functional food is a specific food which fulfills the original aim of being a nutrient and an energy-carrier, but promotes better health and well-being. During the last decades new and healthier foods were designed to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses and conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, some cancers and obesity. However, functional foods are traditional foods expected to be consumed in the diet, but modified in such a way that promotes better health. In Hungary about 16% of the consumers are interested in buying functional foods for health improvements. Dairy products are most often the target products for reducing the risk of osteoporosis in the elderly and increasing gut function. In recent years the market of plant products, especially of fruits and vegetables was rapidly growing due to their high antioxidant capacity. Enhancement metabolism of polyphenols, and flavonoids formed in fruits and vegetables during traditional breeding and processing is not clarified yet and little is known about the effects of the extensive or intensive breeding and of the most economic harvesting time. The functional food science deals with the scientific substantiation of the influences of specific food components (biological active materials) as well as production and formulation of foods and food ingredients. Some of those components are obtained from natural sources, some others are artificial products of the organic synthesis in the industry. The term „functional foods” has never achieved an official definition, but most experts would agree on its benificially target functions in the body beyond adequate nutritional effects. Moderate consumption of vitamines and antioxidants in the diet carried in functional foods are belived to decrease the risk of chronic diseases. According to some market surveys the market of these designed foods is very large and rapidly expanding because of a growing interest among body-builders and other sportsmen with higher physical activities.
JEL code: D12
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Opportunities and Obstacles in the Healthy Food Consumption Area
65-76Views:247The issue of healthy food consumption is an extremely hot topic in today’s fast-paced world. One of today’s ruler trends are the health awareness and health market expansion. The role of the health of consumers is appreciated. People spend more and more to preserve their health. The consequence of conscious consumption is that individuals can keep their physical and mental activity for a longer time remaining their life and accordingly they can be involved in the economic growth. Our central hypotheses were that the financial situation, the level of consciousness and „identity” have a decisive influence on women who assume a healthy eating habit in Hungary. We also presumed a link between health consciousness and financial attitudes, as well as a positive relationship between health consciousness and behavioral intent and normative beliefs. Our results confirm: the income status and the degree of awareness mostly influence the existence of a healthy diet.
JEL codes: E21, H31, H51
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Examination of the Young Athletes’ Eating Habits
79-88Views:528Nowadays, movement and maintaining health are becoming more and more prominent in both public life and the scientific world. In connection with this, we can meet many scientific developments and new recommendations. In the present research, we examined young athletes, primarily in terms of their eating habits, as the compilation of a proper diet contributes greatly to the ability of athletes to achieve the best possible results. The aim of the secondary search was to get acquainted with the young athletes’ health-consciousness behavior and eating habits. The primary search consisted of an online-, and paper based questionnaire as well. As far as data analysis is concerned, we only considered data given by the targeted segment of the respondents, which falls between the age of 15 and 35. For statistical analysis we used descriptive statistics and crosstabs procedure. The results revealed that the majority of the athletes eat 3-5 times a day both in preparation and competiton period. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of athletes find conscious eating important, however, they did not find either the consumption of different health protecive or disease preventive food important. They also do not follow the latest trends in connection with sportfood.
JEL Classification: M31, H12, Z2
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Role and Importance of Healthy Eating
49-63Views:1879Healthy nutrition and a regular exercise are two important pillars of healthy lifestyle. Several researches point out that significant part of the population has incomplete knowledge regarding these topics. The Hungarian population is characterized by unhealthy eating habits and low level of regular exercise, which together result in a high obesity rate and poor health status among the Hungarians. Besides these, another unfavourable fact is the sedentary lifestyle: adults spend more than 5 hours a day in sitting position on average. The Hungarians’ daily physical activity is only 70% of the recommendations, and we only spend 10 minutes a day doing sports. Vegetables and fruits are important ingredients of a healthy and balanced diet, the consumption rate of which is quite low in several European countries including Hungary. In our article we present the main characteristics and contexts of healthy nutrition and physical activity. In addition, we analyze a nutrition research activity which can be an important basis for integrative strategies. Based on secondary research, we present research results that demonstrate the protective effects of vegetable and fruit consumption connected to various diseases. Furthermore, we present the unfavorable tendencies of vegetable and fruit consumption of the European and Hungarian population, and we make suggestions in order to improve the unfavourable circumstances and indicators. We also focus on the socio-ecological model of the nutrition guideline, the levels of which significantly affect our habits related to nutrition and physical activity.
JEL code: I12
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Investigating the Coffee Consumption Habits
59-70Views:1685Coffee consumption is a widespread activity nowadays all around the world. It is a very popular beverage, with many variants as are known. Caffeine can cause many effects in our bodies. These include health benefits and adverse effects. According to 2018 data, the annual per capita coffee consumption in Hungary was 3.1 kilograms, making it the 24th largest coffee consumption country in the world. The aim of the research was to reveal the coffee consumption habits at the domestic level, based on the results of a questionnaire survey based on secondary data collection. In our research, we have also placed great emphasis on examining the beneficial and harmful health effects of coffee consumption. Our further goal is to explore whether domestic consumers are aware of the health effects of coffee consumption. Our hypothesis, defined in connection with our research, was, “Those people who frequently consume coffee are unaware of the health effects of coffee”. As a first step in our research we made a secondary data collection and our second step was the primary data collection. The basis of our primary research was the questionnaire we prepared, which was shared online. The size of the examined sample is 1 664 people. The sample population does not statistically represent the population of Hungary, therefore we do not consider the survey to be representative, the results are only exploratory. Based on our research, we found out that although most of the people who consume coffee often are aware of the beneficial and harmful health effects of coffee, this is mainly true for women, but less so for men. Men are more likely to know only the harmful effects. Our results have shown that those who are aware of all the health-affecting properties of coffee are not more conscious of the amount of coffee consumed than those who are unaware of only the good, bad, or both of the properties.
JEL Codes: A13, P56
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Consumer Perception of a Healthy Nutrition – The Results of an Exploratory Study
57-66Views:727Healthy nutrition is becoming increasingly important in the age of endemic non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and various cancers. Moreover, due to modern eating habits, more and more people are experiencing food allergies, sensitivity or intolerance to gluten, lactose, milk protein, soy, or egg, just to mention a few. Healthy eating as prevention has become a possible solution for these problems worldwide. Furthermore, an increasing number of people simply want to pay attention to what they consume. The primary objective of this research is to showcase the attitude of consumers in Debrecen (Hungary) towards a healthy nutrition, as well as to explore the factors that influence it. This paper also aims to reveal consumers’ views on the degree to which a healthy diet can be achieved in their daily lives. Focus group interview was chosen as the method of primary data collection, in which consumers living in Debrecen, with different behaviors towards health (health preventive and health risk) took part. The acquired results from the two groups clearly reflect how consumers with dissimilar attitudes towards healthy nutrition reach differing opinions on the same issues.
JEL Classification: I12, M31
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The Role of Food Labels in Consumer’s Food Choices
39-53Views:111One of the most important pillars of a healthy lifestyle is healthy nutritional value, in which FOP nutrition labels can support consumers in making the right decision. Nutrition-related diseases of civilization are a worldwide problem. A healthy diet is essential for overall well-being and the prevention of many chronic diseases. Special attention must be paid to the use of FOP nutrition values in order to prevention and healthy decision-making. It is important that people can interpret the nutritional quality of foods as simply as possible. The packaging has to provide realistic and accurate infromation about the product. This study describes four types of FOP nutrition labels used in the European Union: Nordic Keyhole, Nutri-Score, Traffic-Lights, NutrInform Battery.
JEL-Code: M31 -
Characteristics of Eating Habits and Nutritional Status among the Hungarian Population – Literature Review
45-55Views:660Obesity is a growing public health problem worldwide: recent research activities have shown that the significance of obesity regarding public health is as much as smoking, which imposes a huge burden on the healthcare system. WHO ranked obesity among the world’s ten most significant health problems. Obesity has an increasing prevalence among both adults and children in our country, which is accompanied by the unhealthy eating habits and low level of physical activity and sports of Hungarian people. In our research, we analyze the national literature which represents the nutritional characteristics and their changes of the Hungarian population, the main issues of healthy eating, the different recommendations as well as the status of the Hungarian population related to obesity and overweight. In our article we introduce the relevant research regarding eating habits in other countries based on the international literature. Besides these, we present best practices that could influence the health behaviour of the population by focusing on lifestyle factors, especially regular exercise and healthy diet.
JEL code: I12
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Qualitative Investigation of Salt and Sugar Free Nutrition in the Canned Vegetable Market
71-82Views:296“Free from” products as important components of a health-conscious diet are prevalent on store shelves. Our research is based on the analysis of the market situation and introduction possibilities of a potential canned vegetable that can even satisfy the needs of consumers for salt and sugar free meals. Secondary data and information collection provided the basis for further research. In the primary research, we used three qualitative methods, which were netnographic examination, expert interview, and focus group research. In the course of netnography, we examined consumer needs for salt and sugar free canned food on the Internet, mainly on social media, based on pre-collected keywords. The interview with an expert in the canning industry focused on the specificity of canned food and the position of “free from” canned food. Focus group research was composed to learn about the perceptions of university students about both canned food and their customers alike. Among other things, we have shed light on the fact that consumers associate the expression “free from” with the word health, but emphasizing “free from” nature of the product can create a sense of lack. Examining “free from” canned food, we found that young, time constrained, health-conscious consumers can be the target group. Due to the target market, we recommend promoting it on online platforms, where it would even be advisable to use educational campaigns.
JEL Codes: M31, Q13
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The Role of Sweet Corn Quality in a Healthy Diet
39-48Views:81The importance of sweet corn as a healthy food is constantly increasing worldwide. The research and comparative analysis of super sweet sweet corn hybrids suitable for fresh consumption and canning is of particular importance in the food industry. In our studies, we compared the carotenoid content of three supersweet sweet corn hybrids to collect data for its healthy conditions. A novel result in our tests that sweet corn contains the highest amount of lutein and contains zeaxanthin. We found that the amount of zeaxanthin and lutein is determined by its genotype. We found that carotenoids are influenced by the environmental conditions. The concentration of lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, β-carotene did not decrease with the growth of the crop, which confirms the importance of sweet corn hybrid selection for healthy nutrition. In our studies, the amount of lutein and zeaxanthin was higher than the amount of beta cryptoxanthin and beta carotene. Carotene consumption has many positive effects on the human body, it can reduce the incidence of cancer, vascular diseases, or wolf blindness resulting from a lack of vitamin A.
JEL Codes: I1, L15 -
Public Beliefs and Misconceptions in Macro-Nutrient Related Diets Among TikTok Users
29-37Views:193Nowadays, non-communicable diet-related diseases which risk could be greatly reduced by a good lifestyle are becoming increasingly important. One important component of which, nutrition, is the subject of the current research. At present in Hungary the most popular diets are based on carbohydrate and fat intake. Their spread and appearance in social media allowed for a netnographic study, the main purpose of which was to identify what misconceptions or misinformation live in the public consciousness about the topic. I hope that the conclusions drawn from the results obtained can contribute future research and help resolving dilemmas about nutrition, so that consumers can adopt the lifestyle that best suits them, thereby increasing the number of years spent in good health.
JEL Codes: I18, M30, M39
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Analysis of the Health – Environment – Nutrition Nexus: A Review
3-24Views:779The fastest improvement of the wealth and quality of life was witnessed in last decades by the humanity globally. Economic and social development, however, influenced the state and processes of the natural environment at the same time significantly. Food supply is one of the major interfaces between the society and the natural resources, as we highlight in our literature review; approximately one-third of the resource use and pollution is originated in nutritional needs. Also, health effects of western diet are remarkable. Consequently, debate on ‘healthy diet’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ food supply chain became complementary and reinforcing topics recently, at least in the scientific communication.
JEL Codes: F64, I12, O13, Q4, Q5