Use of Combined Methodologies in Assessing Food Beliefs and Habits of Elderly Greeks in Greece

Abstract

This study is part of a wider cross-cultural study of food habits and health in later life. Two general approaches have been incorporated into the survey instrument: (1) rapid assessment procedures (open-ended questions) to elicit information on food and health beliefs, and (2) a questionnaire approach (coded answers for scoring) to elicit information on health, lifestyle, and usual food intake. By combining the qualitative anthropological approach on food beliefs with the conventional survey method for gathering food-intake data, it was possible to examine underlying reasons for observed food habits and consumption of various foodstuffs in 104 Greeks 70 years old or over in a town near Athens in 1988. More than 75% of the subjects believed that meat should not be eaten more than once a week because it is bad for health, that fish should be eaten twice a week because it is good for the heart, and that legumes are essential for longevity and should be eaten at least twice a week. They believed that fruit should be eaten in moderation and is not essential to health - that oranges raise blood pressure and should be avoided by the elderly, but that grapes, when eaten exclusively in large quantities, can cure all illnesses. When these beliefs were compared to actual intake, consumption in most cases, except that of legumes, was compatible with the beliefs. If the C;reek elderly community were to be targeted for health promotion, their beliefs would need to be taken into consideration to facilitate programme implementation.