Abstract
<p><em>Due to the benefits of berries to health and aging in women and the fact that as women age, they are increasingly concerned about remaining healthy and looking young, the aim of this paper is to determine if the consumption of berries among women is influenced by their age; also, to identify if the reasons why berries are ingested vary with age. This study evaluated berries intake and motives of consumption of 240 adult women from Jalisco, Mexico, ranging from 18 to 65 years old, divided into three groups: Young Adult Women (YAW, from 18 to 35 years old), Middle-Aged Adult Women (MAW, from 36 to 55 years old) and Older Adult Women (OAW, from 56 to 65 years old). Berries (blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberry) consumption was collected by an adapted Food Consumption Frequency Questionnaire validated for Mexican population, and intake reasons were assessed by a qualitative section. Spearman’s Correlations, ANOVA and Bonferroni test were done. While berries consumption lowers in the MAW group, it increases when women reach the advanced adulthood. YAW consumes berries mainly because of liking and OAW due to its properties. Only 60% of OAW consumes berries and frequency of consumption is occasional in all women, so policies to increase berries intake are needed.</em></p>
Highlights
The potential health benefits of foods are one of the main reasons why consumers prefer to ingest certain type of products over others (Jaeger, Axten, Wohlers, & Sun-Waterhouse, 2009; Roininen, Lähteenmäki, & Tuorila, 1999; Roininen et al, 2001)
The sample was divided into the following age groups, according to the classification of Petry (2002): women from 18 to years old, who are considered as Young Adult Women (YAW); women from to years old, considered as Middle-Aged Adult Women (MAW) and women from to 65 years old, who are considered as Old Adult Women (OAW)
The results show that berries consumption frequency of YAW and MAW are mainly into a mid-scale (1-3 times a month to once a week) whereas Older Adult Women grams (OAW) consumption are skewed towards lower frequencies, since 40% of these women never consume berries
Summary
The potential health benefits of foods are one of the main reasons why consumers prefer to ingest certain type of products over others (Jaeger, Axten, Wohlers, & Sun-Waterhouse, 2009; Roininen, Lähteenmäki, & Tuorila, 1999; Roininen et al, 2001). The consumption of food rich in antioxidants has increased steadily in the last decades, due to the numerous health-promoting properties attributed to them (Huntley, 2009). Besides being low in calories and a rich source of fiber, ascorbic acid, carotenes and polysaccharides, they are a rich source of bioactive compounds, such as phenolic compounds (including flavonoids such as anthocyanins and procyanidins), tannins and phenolic acids, substances that are considered antioxidants These bioactive compounds have received considerable attention from researchers. The numerous attributes of berries, make its consumption on women worth studying, yet identifying how the consumption of these fruits varies according to women’s age, may further help in creating policies to promote their consumption. Due to the above the aim of this paper is to determine if the consumption of berries among women is influenced by their age; to identify if the reasons why berries are ingested vary with age
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