Consumer clusters in Denmark based on coarse vegetable intake frequency, explained by hedonics, socio-demographic, health and food lifestyle factors. A cross-sectional national survey

Trends and Dietary Assessment According to Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Korean Elderly People: Analysis Based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1998, 2008, and 2018

The study aimed to examine the 20-year trends in fruit and non-starch/unsalted vegetable intake among the Korean elderly aged 65 years or older based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data. A total of 3722 elderly citizens aged 65 years or older who participated in the dietary survey (24-h recall of dietary intake) of the 1998, 2008, and 2018 NHANES were selected as the subjects of this study. Fruit and non-starchy/unsalted vegetable intake increased by approximately 86.53 g over the past 20 years, from 268.27 g in 1998 to 355.8 g in 2018. In particular, 65-74-year-olds had an increased intake by approximately 130.38 g over the past 20 years, from 277.34 g in 1998 to 407.72 g in 2018. In addition, snacks intake significantly increased over the past 20 years (p for trend < 0.001). Intake according to daily meal cooking location increased by approximately 130 g over the past 20 years, from 64.50 g in 1998 to 123.39 g in 2008, and to 198.01 g in 2018. The annual proportion of the total elderly population who meet the amount of vegetable food intake recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)/World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) (400 g or more fruits and non-starchy vegetables) increased by approximately 11.28%p (percentage points) over the past 20 years, from 21.78% in 1998 to 24.63% in 2008, and to 33.06% in 2018. The results of this study suggest that more fundamental measures are required to increase the fruit and non-starchy vegetable intake among the elderly. Furthermore, it is thought that the results of this study can be used as basic data in establishing dietary policy. In addition, it is thought that it can be used in developing nutrition education and dietary guidelines for enhancing fruit and vegetable intake.

The Relationship between Health Consciousness and Home-Based Exercise in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have reduced the frequency of going out, and need to engage in health behaviors at home. Home-based exercise has aroused people's attention. This paper aims to examine the influencing mechanism of health consciousness on home-based exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire method was used to select 449 Chinese respondents on an online platform; the questionnaire includes a health consciousness scale, health life goal scale, perceived behavioral control scale, and the home-based exercise scale. A T-test was used to conduct differential analysis. The hierarchical regression analysis method was used to examine the relationship between health consciousness and home-based exercise, and the Hayes' SPSS PROCESS macro was used to test mediating effect. The results show that there are significant differences in home-based exercise with respect to gender, age, and marital status. Health consciousness has a significant positive effect on home-based exercise. Perceived behavioral control acts as the mediator between health consciousness and home-based exercise. Health consciousness can influence home-based exercise through health life goals and perceived behavioral control in turn. This paper takes a home-based exercise survey, and expands the theoretical research of home-based exercise. The findings suggest that people should pay attention to promoting the transformation of health consciousness into home-based exercise. It provides enlightenment for people to adopt health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors related to sensory properties and consumer acceptance of vegetables

Many consumers perceive the bitter taste or other sensory characteristic of vegetables as unpleasant, posing a challenge to dietary recommendations aiming to increase vegetable consumption. Food experience is multisensory, with complex interactions between the senses and individual differences in sensory perception. This review focuses on the factors affecting sensory properties of vegetables and sensory perception of vegetables among adults. Topical examples of sensory quality and evaluation of vegetable samples are presented. Cultivar and growing conditions are related to the internal sensory quality of vegetables. The effects of different processing methods, such as freezing and cooking, on the sensory properties of vegetables are also reviewed. Flavor modification of vegetables with seasonings may be used to improve palatability and incorporating vegetables to meals may increase the intake of vegetables. Recently, external factors (e.g. visual and odor stimuli) have been tested in multisensory research in the context of vegetable perception and choice. These options to achieve better sensory quality, more palatable meals and pleasant eating context may be used to promote vegetable intake among adults.

Consumer acceptance of dairy products with a saturated fatty acid-reduced, monounsaturated fatty acid-enriched content

Agriculture-based reformulation initiatives, including oleic acid-rich lipid supplementation of the dairy cow diet, provide a novel means for reducing intake of saturated fatty acids (SFA) at a population level. In a blinded manner, this study evaluated the consumer acceptance of SFA-reduced, monounsaturated fatty acid-enriched (modified) milk, Cheddar cheese, and butter when compared with control and commercially available comparative samples. The effect of providing nutritional information about the modified cheese was also evaluated. Consumers (n = 115) rated samples for overall liking (appearance, flavor, and texture) using 9-point hedonic scales. Although no significant differences were found between the milk samples, the modified cheese was liked significantly less than a regular-fat commercial alternative for overall liking and liking of specific modalities and had a lower liking of texture score compared with the control cheese. The provision of health information significantly increased the overall liking of the modified cheese compared with tasting the same sample in a blinded manner. Significant differences were evident between the butter samples for overall liking and modalities of liking; all of the samples were significantly more liked than the commercial butter and sunflower oil spread. In conclusion, this study illustrated that consumer acceptance of SFA-reduced, monounsaturated fatty acid-enriched dairy products was dependent on product type. Future research should consider how optimization of the textural properties of fatty acid-modified (and fat-reduced) cheese might enhance consumer acceptance of this product.

Use of Linear Programming to Develop Cost-Minimized Nutritionally Adequate Health Promoting Food Baskets

Background

Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) are developed to promote healthier eating patterns, but increasing food prices may make healthy eating less affordable. The aim of this study was to design a range of cost-minimized nutritionally adequate health-promoting food baskets (FBs) that help prevent both micronutrient inadequacy and diet-related non-communicable diseases at lowest cost.

Methods

Average prices for 312 foods were collected within the Greater Copenhagen area. The cost and nutrient content of five different cost-minimized FBs for a family of four were calculated per day using linear programming. The FBs were defined using five different constraints: cultural acceptability (CA), or dietary guidelines (DG), or nutrient recommendations (N), or cultural acceptability and nutrient recommendations (CAN), or dietary guidelines and nutrient recommendations (DGN). The variety and number of foods in each of the resulting five baskets was increased through limiting the relative share of individual foods.

Results

The one-day version of N contained only 12 foods at the minimum cost of DKK 27 (€ 3.6). The CA, DG, and DGN were about twice of this and the CAN cost ~DKK 81 (€ 10.8). The baskets with the greater variety of foods contained from 70 (CAN) to 134 (DGN) foods and cost between DKK 60 (€ 8.1, N) and DKK 125 (€ 16.8, DGN). Ensuring that the food baskets cover both dietary guidelines and nutrient recommendations doubled the cost while cultural acceptability (CAN) tripled it.

Conclusion

Use of linear programming facilitates the generation of low-cost food baskets that are nutritionally adequate, health promoting, and culturally acceptable.

Analysis of Kimchi, vegetable and fruit consumption trends among Korean adults: data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1998-2012)

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study is to analyze daily kimchi, vegetable and fruit consumption by general characteristics and vegetable and fruit consumption from 1998 to 2012 by the Korean population based on the data of the KNHANES (Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey).

SUBJECTS/METHODS

This study is based on the 1998-2012 KNHNES. Analysis data on 54,700 subjects aged 19 years and older were obtained from health behavior interviews and the 24-hour dietary recall method.

RESULTS

Daily kimchi consumption and portion size of kimchi decreased significantly from 1998 to 2012 (adjusted P for trend < 0.0001). Meanwhile, daily consumption of both non-salted vegetable and fruit with and without kimchi did not significantly change between 1998 and 2012. Reduced consumption of kimchi, non-salted vegetable, and fruit was observed for both genders as well as daily meal episodes and cooking locations. Male and female subjects with insufficient non-salted vegetable and fruit intake were increased 1.4 times and 1.3 times, respectively, in 2012 than 1998. All subjects consumed at least 400 g/day of non-salted vegetable, fruit, and kimchi in each survey year, although they consumed insufficient amounts (< 400 g/day) of non-salted vegetable and fruit without kimchi.

CONCLUSIONS

Since Koreans generally consume high amounts of fermented vegetables, including kimchi, total vegetables and fruit. Consumption of these foods by the Korean adult population reached 400 g, which is the recommended intake of the WCRF/AICR. Based on this result, it is necessary to promote consumption of kimchi in the Korean population and research the development of low sodium kimchi in the future.