DIETARY HABITS OF POPULATION IN THE CROATIAN RURAL AREA DAMAGED BY AN EARTHQUAKE. “THE SILENT KILLER HUNT”- CROATIAN SOCIETY OF HYPERTENSION PROJECT

Abstract

Objective: A healthy diet is a crucial modifying factor for a healthy life. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends taking at least 400 g or 5 portions of fruits and vegetables daily. Unsaturated fats found in fish are preferred to saturated fats found in fatty meat. Salt intake should be limited to 5 g daily and people should be careful with hidden salt that is found in bread, smoked meat, and spices. It is recommended that daily sugar intake is less than 10% of total daily energy intake. We aimed to investigate the dietary habits of the adult population living in a rural area damaged by the earthquake. Design and method: The survey was performed using a modified food consumption questionnaire. In this analysis, we included 214 participants older than 18 years of age (opportunistic screening). Results: The study revealed unhealthy dietary patterns in terms of low consumption of fish, rare fruit and vegetable intake and high incidence of red and smoked meat consumption. A total of 60.7% of participants consume less than 3 portions of fruits and vegetables per day and only 7.5% take the recommended 5 or more portions per day. Very few subjects do eat fish (8.4%) or eat it a few times a month (53.3%). A total of 44.4% of subjects eat red meat up to 2 times a week and 21.5% of them eat it every day. A total of 37.4% of people consume smoked processed meat on a weekly basis, while 16.8% eat it every day. Almost one-third of survey respondents (31.3%) reported eating sweets and cakes on a daily basis. Conclusions: Major consumption of red and smoked meat, high intake of sugar and low intake of fruits, vegetables and fish indicates that further education of the population of rural areas and promotion of a healthy diet is needed in order to ameliorate their dietary behaviors.