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Consumers’ attitude toward dietary supplements and functional food: a prospective survey in a Greek population sample

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Abstract

Purpose

The main objective of the present study was to investigate the attitudes among a sample of educated Greek consumers toward the use of dietary supplements (DS) and functional foods (FF) given that attitudes and behaviors as regards DS/FF have not been sufficiently evaluated in Southern Europe, where their penetration is lower as compared to northern countries.

Method

An online questionnaire was completed by 358 individuals (n = 358, 55.6% females, 44.4% males, and 82% of the total with higher education). Questionnaire reliability was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient while independence among qualitative variables was assayed by Pearson’s chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test. The different groups of questions were analyzed by factor analysis, with principal component analysis and Varimax rotation, applied after a factor analysis and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy test. Finally, a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward’s method, using the squared Euclidean distance as a measure, was performed in order to identify and classify cases.

Results

Our results revealed that the majority of responders were aware of the principles of healthy eating, considering DS/FF as valid additives conferring beneficial effects. A surprising finding is that consumers, independently of the use of DS/FF, tend to prepare food at home and to adhere strongly to the Mediterranean diet and its principles. In addition, they express a certain degree of wariness as to product labeling and health claims, following instead the recommendations of health professionals and scientific evidence. Finally, they prefer to purchase DS/FF from pharmacies.

Conclusion

Our findings provide valuable data concerning active Greek consumers’ attitudes toward these relative new products, which could be extended to other Mediterranean and South European populations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Experimental Endocrinology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Voutes University Campus, 71013, Heraklion, Greece

    Evangelia Tsartsou, Elias Castanas & Marilena Kampa

  2. Hellenic Agricultural Organization DEMETER, Athens, Greece

    Nikolaos Proutsos

  3. Hellenic Forest Directorate, Chalkidiki, Greece

    Iakovos Papadopoulos

  4. Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece

    Vangelis Tzouvelekas

Authors
  1. Evangelia Tsartsou
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  2. Nikolaos Proutsos
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  3. Iakovos Papadopoulos
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  4. Vangelis Tzouvelekas
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  5. Elias Castanas
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  6. Marilena Kampa
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Correspondence to Elias Castanas or Marilena Kampa.

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Since the questionnaire was completed voluntarily and anonymously online, there was no need for an ethics committee approval (No 124/2020).

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Tsartsou, E., Proutsos, N., Papadopoulos, I. et al. Consumers’ attitude toward dietary supplements and functional food: a prospective survey in a Greek population sample. Hormones 20, 177–188 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42000-020-00209-7

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