Eating styles of young females in Azerbaijan

Abstract

An epidemic of twenty-first century is overweight and obesity which is a consequence of inappropriate eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. Relying on statistical data overweight and obesity is a serious problem for young people, since the ratio of obese young people (below 35) is constantly increasing in the developed regions of the world. In an empirical research 419 adult females between 24 and 38 were questioned. The aim of the research was to segment Azerbaijan females belonging to Generation Y based on their eating behaviour. In order to measure eating behaviour the shorter version of Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R 18) including 18 items was used. Relying on the results three main consumer groups can be distinguished, namely functional eaters (36.3%), conscious eaters (27.2%) and emotional and hedonic eaters (36.5%). Functional eaters have average level of income and bachelor degree. They are typically single. They do moderate physical activity and have normal weight based on their BMI. Conscious eaters have high level of income (over the average) and bachelor or master degree. The ratio of married and single women is almost the same among them. They do regularly sport, mainly once a week, or at least three times a week. They can be characterized by underweight or normal body weight. Emotional and hedonic eaters have low income level and associate or bachelor degree. They are single. They follow sedentary lifestyle; none of them do high level of physical activity and they have problems with their weight (overweight or obesity). Segmenting customers based on their eating styles are really useful for health sector, especially doctors, dietetics and psychologists since they can plan their assortment based on customers’ needs or plan a personal diet.