Romanian Population Perception about Food Risk Behavior Starting from their Social and Cultural Profile

Abstract

Our goal was to assess the Romanian’s food behavior according to their socio-cultural profile, in order to identify food behavior at risk and implement educational prevention methods. We performed a study based on the assessment of lifestyle and social aspects, based on an international project validated questionnaire of 26 questions, applied online in 2018 to a group of 821 adults, in Romania. The results underlined that socio-economic status was a contributing factor in food choices, people with low socio-economic status opted for low-price food, especially the elderly (40%). Regarding the preference for eating alone related to gender, both the female respondents (37.8%) and the males (50.6%) mostly disagreed, with statistical significance for males (p<0.022), also males were more influenced about what other people are eating (p<0.045). It is needed to implement new educational strategies, both in schools and adults communities, in order to reduce the risks for future chronic diseases.