KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES REGARDING DIETARYFIBRES: A CONSUMER SURVEY IN PORTUGUESE POPULATION

Fibre is a collective term for a group of compounds, which differ in their chemical structure and physical properties and is related with a variety of physiological effects. Some health benefits such as the reduced risks of certain diseases like cancer, coronary heart disease, obesity and possibly diabetes are linked with dietary fibre consumption. Given this importance, the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of the Portuguese population regarding dietary fibre were investigated by undertaking a consumer survey by means of a questionnaire that would allow understanding the level of knowledge and attitudes towards fibre and how this could help to inform educational or agricultural policies to improve public health.
The results obtained showed that most of the population had a general knowledge about fibre and individuals who tend to eat out frequently or who show little concern for fibre are more likely to lack knowledge of the connection between foods and fibers. Also, individuals who were less concerned with fibre tended to eat less fibre in the form of fruit, vegetables and whole cereals.
A factor analysis was performed to group the knowledge about food fibres, and it revealed that the most appropriate solution involved three factors (health effect, food and fibres, and general knowledge), explaining 76% of the variance in the original data.
Furthermore, three clusters, with similar sample percentage, were identified through a cluster analysis: people that can be considered as practising a healthy diet, people who eat out, and people who do not concern about fibre and its effects. Consumers from all three clusters have a general knowledge about dietary fibres and their benefits for health. Yet only the food and fibres factor is a significant differentiator between the three consumer segments.
The socio-demographic factors age, level of education, and location had no effect on quality perception of dietary fibres between the segments, but the women perceived dietary fibres as being healthy more than men did. Finally, the cluster of healthy diet has an attitude more responsible towards the food labels when compared to the other two clusters members.