Abstract
BackgroundResearch on the health effects of probiotics continues to grow, but less is known about consumers’ perceptions of probiotic products and their health effects, and the impact of these perceptions on consumption. Particularly little is known about the way parents perceive probiotic consumption by small children, and whether parental willingness to use probiotics as a treatment differs from their willingness to use them preventively. The aim of this study was to explore how parents perceive probiotic consumption by their small children, and their willingness to use such products in treatment and prevention.MethodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews with 17 Danish parents with at least one child aged 8–18 months. The interview guide centered on parental consumer practices and health-related attitudes both in general and in relation to probiotics. The data were coded in Nvivo and analyzed in a four-step analytical approach.ResultsParents are willing to use probiotics as a treatment but are skeptical about preventive use. Some parents define probiotics as a kind of medicine they use only if their child is ill. Probiotics also conflict with parental understandings of their children as small, perfect parts of nature. Parents worry that probiotics may cause an imbalance in the vulnerable perfection of a small child.ConclusionThe study shows that parental probiotic consumption practices are embedded in a cultural understanding of the child as both a perfect example of nature and vulnerable. Health authorities need to take this understanding into account if parents are to be successfully encouraged to use probiotics preventively.
Highlights
Research on the health effects of probiotics continues to grow, but less is known about consumers’ perceptions of probiotic products and their health effects, and the impact of these perceptions on consumption
While randomized intervention studies are important for documenting health effects of probiotics, they do not tell us whether it is possible to achieve these outcomes in Andersen et al BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2018) 18:336 real life [11]
The study was based on in-depth qualitative interviews with parents and explored parental perceptions of probiotics for small children, and how these perceptions shape parental willingness to use probiotics for their children, either for treatment or prevention of disease
Summary
Research on the health effects of probiotics continues to grow, but less is known about consumers’ perceptions of probiotic products and their health effects, and the impact of these perceptions on consumption. Probiotics are defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization [1] as “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit to the host” [1, 2] Their potential health effects have attracted considerable research attention over recent years. While randomized intervention studies are important for documenting health effects of probiotics, they do not tell us whether it is possible to achieve these outcomes in Andersen et al BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2018) 18:336 real life [11] For this to happen, parents must be willing to purchase probiotics and administer them in their children’s everyday diets. The study was based on in-depth qualitative interviews with parents and explored parental perceptions of probiotics for small children, and how these perceptions shape parental willingness to use probiotics for their children, either for treatment or prevention of disease
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