Knowledge attitudes and behaviors of adult individuals about high fructose corn syrup consumption; cross sectional survey study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is; to examine the knowledge and attitudes of individuals about ready-to food consumption and food products containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Research in the city center in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey was held with 18 individuals over the age of two shoppers at the supermarket. The study is a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. The research was conducted between 15.09.2018 and 30.03.2019. Data were collected from 254 individuals using face-to-face interview technique. The questionnaire form consisted of questions created by the researcher to determine socio-demographic variables as well as information about ready-made food intake and foods containing high fructose corn syrup. The suitability of the questionnaire for factor analysis was evaluated with the "Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient" and "Bartlett Sphericity Test". As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, the 21-item survey form explains 52% of the total variance. The questionnaire items consist of four factors. Cronbach's Alpha reliability of the questionnaire is 0.860 on the whole. In the sub-factors; The first factor was 0.859, the second factor was 0.764, the third factor was 0.652, and the fourth factor was 0.616. The findings obtained in the study were analyzed using the Independent Sample t Test, One Way Anova test, Mann Whitney U test and Tukey test. SPSS 21, USA was used to analyze the study. It was determined that the average age of the participants was 31.3±11.7, the rate of paying attention to ingredients and nutritional values while purchasing ready-made foods was low, and 1/4 of them did not pay attention to high fructose corn syrup in their content. There was a significant correlation between the age and employment status of the participants and their knowledge and attitudes about the foods containing corn syrup (p<0.05). It was concluded that individuals should be educated about health risks while purchasing ready-made food products and should be more informed about foods containing HFCS. It is recommended that the questionnaire used in the study be tested in different sample groups in order to increase its validity and reliability evidence.