engleski

Interpretation of healthy eating among the national sample of Croatian adults

The objective of this study was to examine the interpretation of a healthy eating among a national representative sample of Croatian adults related to the socio-demographic characteristics. 1006 Croatian in age 15 years and over was randomly selected and interviewed through the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing system. All interviews were completed between March and April 2006. Interpretations of healthy eating were grouped according to the pan-EU Survey of Consumer Attitudes to Food, Nutrition and Health methodology across 15 member states. Half of participants described healthy eating as ‘’fresh, natural foods’’ (50%), followed by ‘’more fruits and vegetables’’ (40%). About the same percentage of respondents (19%) mentioned ‘less red meat, meat products’ and ‘less fatty foods’ since only 7% subjects mentioned ‘’balance and variety’’. Older males with excessive weight from lower social classes and those with minimal levels of education were subgroups of the Croatian population less likely to mention any of well-known concepts of healthy eating. Substantial variations in interpretation of healthy eating exist between Croatia and European citizens. These finding suggest real challenge for Croatian nutrition authorities towards nutrition education of specific groups based upon widely recommended nutrition guidelines.

Healthy eating; Adults; Croatia

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