Food Preferences Research Articles

The therapeutic landscape of citrin deficiency.

Citrin deficiency (CD) is a recessive, liver disease caused by sequence variants in the SLC25A13 gene encoding a mitochondrial aspartate-glutamate transporter. CD manifests as different age-dependent phenotypes and affects crucial hepatic metabolic pathways including malate-aspartate-shuttle, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, de novo lipogenesis and the tricarboxylic acid and urea cycles. Although the exact pathophysiology of CD remains unclear, impaired use of glucose and fatty acids as energy sources due to NADH shuttle defects and PPARα downregulation, respectively, indicates evident energy deficit in CD hepatocytes. The present review summarizes current trends on available and potential treatments for CD. Baseline recommendation for CD patients is dietary management, often already present as a self-selected food preference, that includes protein and fat-rich food, and avoidance of excess carbohydrates. At present, liver transplantation remains the sole curative option for severe CD cases. Our extensive literature review indicated medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) as the most widely used CD treatment in all age groups. MCT can effectively improve symptoms across disease phenotypes by rapidly supplying energy to the liver, restoring redox balance and inducing lipogenesis. In contrast, sodium pyruvate restored glycolysis and displayed initial preclinical promise, with however limited efficacy in adult CD patients. Ursodeoxycholic acid, nitrogen scavengers and L-arginine treatments effectively address specific pathophysiological aspects such as cholestasis and hyperammonemia and are commonly administered in combination with other drugs. Finally, future possibilities including restoring redox balance, amino acid supplementation, enhancing bioenergetics, improving ureagenesis and mRNA/DNA-based gene therapy are also discussed.

The role and place of big data in official agricultural statistics

The agro-industrial sector, like other industries, is increasingly data-driven and data-analytical. From crop selection to assessing consumer food preferences, data is collected at every stage of the agricultural chain. The huge amounts of data collected and processed have already fundamentally changed the structure and efficiency of various agricultural production and supply systems. Modern digital technologies are being actively introduced into agriculture, from laboratory conditions to open and protected fields. The use of machine learning tools, robotics and big data technologies significantly transforms and optimizes not only production processes, but also methodological approaches for scientific research. The results of the study suggest that the use of big data sources in addition to statistical observations helps to reduce the burden on respondents, which is an important task for national statistical services.

Features of eating behavior of early school-age children in the context of the implementation of the school meals reform

The aim of this study is to study the peculiarities of the eating behaviour of children of primary school age, their food preferences, choice of products and attitudes towards school meals, food habits in the choice of products and attitudes towards the school canteen in the context of the implementation of the school meal reform. Materials and methods. A large-scale medical and sociological study was conducted, which included children (5,401) of primary school age (from 6 to 10 years old) and their parents (4,347 people) from various schools in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, and Donetsk regions. The questionnaires included questions about food preferences, frequency of consumption of different foods, attitudes towards school meals and factors that influence food choices. The collected data were processed and analyzed using descriptive statistics methods in Excel. Research results indicate a significant level of awareness of the importance of a healthy diet by most children, but an insufficient level of water consumption, an insufficient understanding of the importance of nutrition for maintaining health by children, high popularity of high-carbohydrate products and a low level of satisfaction of some parents with school meals. Conclusions. The conducted analytical research revealed several educational and organizational problems related to the introduction of healthy food in schools, especially within the framework of reforming school food programs. According to the Strategy for reforming the school nutrition system, compliance with the principles of healthy nutrition, ensuring high-quality, safe and healthy nutrition, and improving the taste properties of school nutrition compliance with the principles of healthy nutrition, is extremely important for the preservation of children's health and the prevention of chronic non-infectious diseases. The results of our research indicate the need for additional educational programs for children and parents, the gradual introduction of new food standards, as well as ensuring the availability of healthy food in school canteens, and the implementation of social projects that will contribute to the formation of healthy eating habits

Do Perceived Benefits Compensate for Low Provider Trustworthiness in Disclosure Decisions?

Abstract: People regularly receive algorithm-based recommendations (e.g., in social media and online shopping). Today, such algorithmic recommendations cover a wider range of applications, such as finding recipes that match an individual’s needs and food preferences. To give better-fitting recommendations, algorithms incorporate large amounts of personal information about the individual, which raises the issue of privacy concerns. When are people willing to share such information that can then be considered by algorithms? While previous research has indicated that perceived benefits of platform use and provider trustworthiness influence whether people are willing to disclose personal information, these studies often have two major limitations: they are either survey-based – thus, not allowing causal conclusions – or lack realistic usage (i.e., rely on vignettes). Thus, in the present experimental study ( N = 329), we manipulated provider trustworthiness and asked participants about their willingness to disclose information directly after interacting with an algorithm-based system for recipe recommendations. Results indicate that higher perceived benefits and provider trustworthiness are related to more willingness to disclose information. However, these effects are independent of each other. Thus, the present research suggests that provider trustworthiness causally leads to a higher willingness to share information and high benefits do not compensate for low provider trustworthiness.

Assessing food preferences in Spain: a historical perspective including attributes and values

PurposeThis study aims to identify how Spanish consumers’ extrinsic preferences for food have evolved by examining the extant literature on food preferences in Spain, focusing on food-related attributes and food-related values.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a synthetic review of the extant academic literature on Spanish consumer preferences for food-related attributes and food-related values from the mid-20th to the 21st century. This study uses key economic and social milestones that are most likely to influence food value chain actors to show how consumer preferences have evolved over the study period.FindingsSpanish consumer food attribute preferences expanded as the food sector of the nation continued to grow, and value preferences showed a similar pattern from the mid-20th to the 21st century. The drivers of these preferences were trust, lifestyle, education (campaigns), sociodemographic factors and purchasing power.Originality/valueEvaluating the extant literature’s contribution to consumer preferences for food-related attributes and values is important because it can aid in understanding the hierarchy and variety of consumers’ food preferences as well as the factors that drive these preferences. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore how Spanish consumer preferences evolved between the mid-20th and 21st centuries.

Culturally responsive care in haemodialysis: A scoping review.

To describe how clinicians provide culturally responsive care to culturally diverse people with kidney failure in haemodialysis centres. Culturally diverse individuals receiving in-centre maintenance haemodialysis have unique cultural needs. Unmet cultural needs can impair and profoundly affect their experiences. Given culturally responsive care has the potential to enhance the experiences of culturally diverse people, it is vital to understand how clinicians provide culturally responsive care. A scoping review was undertaken using Arksey and OMalleys framework. Five databases: Medline and CINAHL Complete (EBSCO), PsycINFO, Embase (OVID) and ProQuest Theses and Dissertation databases were searched for research literature published in English between 1990 and 2023. Narrative synthesis was used to synthesise the data. From the 17,271 records screened, 17 papers reporting 14 studies met the inclusion criteria. Narrative synthesis revealed two themes: (i) communication enablers and barriers including linguistic differences, professional and lay interpreter use; and (ii) the importance of culture, which encompassed acknowledging cultural priorities, accommodating cultural food preferences and access to cultural training. While competing priorities associated with haemodialysis may be a challenge for clinicians, recognising the significance of cultural care needs and accommodating them in care is important. Demonstrating respect towards cultural diversity and providing person-centred care by facilitating the unique cultural needs of people with kidney failure in haemodialysis is imperative. Culturally responsive care is complex and multidimensional. Individuals' cultural care needs should be acknowledged, respected, and accommodated in care. No patient or public contribution. The study protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework. https://osf.io/uv8g3.

Culinary Cartographies: Mapping Cultural Identity through Foodways in Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home

This paper delves into the confluence of cultural identity and foodways in the diaspora, using Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home, as its object of study. It investigates the role of food, as a vibrant site of cultural expression and exchange for the Palestinian-Egyptian protagonist and her family, who strive for charting their transnational identity across different locations and cultures. Against the background of Anita Mannur’s insights on “Culinary Fictions”, this study examines the significance of food preferences and eating habits as a tool for affirming cultural identity, negotiating belonging, and resisting hegemonic narratives of cultural authenticity and assimilation. By analyzing the significance and symbolism of food in the diaspora, this research foregrounds the complexities of cultural identity. It does so through exploring culinary practices as part of the “defence and coping mechanisms” adopted by diasporic communities to maintain a connection to their homelands while attempting to render their experience of belonging tangible and fully lived. In this sense, food acts as more than a nourishment for the body as it equally functions as a vital source of sustenance for the diasporic consciousness, contributing significantly to the preservation of cultural identity and the maintenance of connections to ancestral homelands.

Arousal and the modulation of sensory experience: evidence from food-related emotions.

Across sensory systems, several stimulus collative characteristics, including intensity, novelty, complexity and perceived dangerousness, are known to elicit high levels of physiological and psychological arousal. It has become apparent that food rejections by both children and adults are frequently linked to such arousal-inducing characteristics. This paper examines how arousal and arousability are important elements in responding to stimuli generally, but specifically to foods, ultimately influencing food preferences and choices. It is clear that responses to sensory properties are subject not just to variations in perceptual sensitivity due to genetics or experience-as in the case of widely rejected qualities such as bitterness or pungency-but also to the arousal potential of those stimuli. Moreover, this is linked to various enduring aspects of personality, suggesting that the impact of arousal on food choices is merely one aspect of a more general sensory sensitivity. The impact of diet on various health outcomes underlines the importance of understanding the relationship of arousal to food choices. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sensing and feeling: an integrative approach to sensory processing and emotional experience'.

Early-life diet does not affect preference for fish in herring gulls (Larus argentatus).

Urban populations of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) are increasing and causing human-wildlife conflict by exploiting anthropogenic resources. Gulls that breed in urban areas rely on varying amounts of terrestrial anthropogenic foods (e.g., domestic refuse, agricultural and commercial waste) to feed themselves. However, with the onset of hatching, many parent gulls switch to sourcing more marine than anthropogenic or terrestrial foods to provision their chicks. Although anthropogenic foods may meet chick calorific requirements for growth and development, some such foods (e.g., bread) may have lower levels of protein and other key nutrients compared to marine foods. However, whether this parental switch in chick diet is driven by chicks' preference for marine foods, or whether chicks' food preferences are shaped by the food types provisioned by their parents, remains untested. This study tests whether chick food preferences can be influenced by their provisioned diet by experimentally manipulating the ratio of time for which anthropogenic and marine foods were available (80:20 and vice versa) in the rearing diets of two treatment groups of rescued herring gull chicks. Each diet was randomly assigned to each of the 27 captive-reared chicks for the duration of the study. We tested chicks' individual food preferences throughout their development in captivity using food arrays with four food choices (fish, cat food, mussels and brown bread). Regardless of the dietary treatment group, we found that all chicks preferred fish and almost all refused to eat most of the bread offered. Our findings suggest that early-life diet, manipulated by the ratio of time the different foods were available, did not influence gull chicks' food preferences. Instead, chicks developed a strong and persistent preference for marine foods, which appears to match adult gulls' dietary switch to marine foods upon chick hatching and may reinforce the provisioning of marine foods during chick development. However, whether chicks in the wild would refuse provisioned foods, and to a sufficient extent to influence parental provisioning, requires further study. Longitudinal studies of urban animal populations that track wild individuals' food preferences and foraging specialisations throughout life are required to shed light on the development and use of anthropogenic resource exploitation.

Dietary fiber induces a fat preference associated with the gut microbiota.

Eating behavior is essential to human health. However, whether future eating behavior is subjected to the conditioning of preceding dietary composition is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary fiber consumption on subsequent nutrient-specific food preferences between palatable high-fat and high-sugar diets and explore its correlation with the gut microbiota. C57BL/6NJcl male mice were subjected to a 2-week dietary intervention and fed either a control (n = 6) or inulin (n = 6) diet. Afterward, all mice were subjected to a 3-day eating behavioral test to self-select from the simultaneously presented high-fat and high-sugar diets. The test diet feed intakes were recorded, and the mice's fecal samples were analyzed to evaluate the gut microbiota composition. The inulin-conditioned mice exhibited a preference for the high-fat diet over the high-sugar diet, associated with distinct gut microbiota composition profiles between the inulin-conditioned and control mice. The gut microbiota Oscillospiraceae sp., Bacteroides acidifaciens, and Clostridiales sp. positively correlated with a preference for fat. Further studies with fecal microbiota transplantation and eating behavior-related neurotransmitter analyses are warranted to establish the causal role of gut microbiota on host food preferences. Food preferences induced by dietary intervention are a novel observation, and the gut microbiome may be associated with this preference.

The impact of dietary preference on household food waste: evidence from China.

Food waste jeopardizes food security and causes economic and resource losses. Household food waste is the most significant source of global food waste and urgently needs to be reduced. Based on the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), our study estimates the daily food waste data of 6,418 sample observations across China and the dietary preference scores of their household heads. Using a count regression model, our study explores the relationship between dietary preference and household food waste in Chinese households, and further explores the moderating function of household refrigerator use. The study has found that: (1) improving dietary preference score can significantly reduce household food waste ratio, and robustness tests support this finding. (2) There is a positive moderating effect of refrigerator use in the process of how dietary preference influence food waste. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of dietary preference on household food waste varies by gender and age of the household head, household size, economic level, urban-rural type, and north-south region. Our study provides evidence that improving dietary preference can reduce household food waste in China, which has certain implications for waste reduction in other developing countries.

Psychosocial Correlates of Emotional Eating Among Healthcare Professionals in a Tertiary Care Centre in Mysuru

Abstract Introduction: People’s food preferences and eating habits are heavily influenced by their psychological health. Emotional eating (EE) is not a distinct eating disorder, but rather a subtype within a range of different eating behaviors that are affected by habits, stress, emotions, and personal eating attitudes. Stress and eating are frequently unhealthy companions for those in the medical field. This study proposes to determine the prevalence and psychosocial correlates with EE among health-care professionals. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 320 health-care professionals at JSS Hospital, Mysore, over 6 months using a convenient sampling technique. A pretested, semistructured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information regarding sociodemographic characteristics, perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), EE (Emotional Eaters Questionnaire), and eating and lifestyle habits of participants. Statistical tests such as Chi-square tests and Spearman’s correlation test were used. Results: Among 320 health-care professionals, 82.8% were emotional eaters. Among emotional eaters, 28.8%, 42.5%, and 11.5% were low, emotional, and very emotional eaters, respectively. Among the study subjects, 77.19% had moderate stress and 13.12% had severe stress. There was a statistically significant association between age, perceived stress, and fried food intake with EE. Conclusion: The findings raise concerns over the high prevalence of EE among health-care professionals, calling for close attention from policymakers to address this new health challenge. Enhancing dietary habits, body weight status, exercise, and perceived stress levels could be potential targets for interventions.

‘Unlock the Complexity’: Understanding the Economic and Political Pathways Underlying the Transition to Climate-Smart Smallholder Forage-Livestock Systems: A Case Study in Rwanda

The livestock-dairy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Rwanda, is experiencing rapid growth due to population expansion, urbanisation, and changing food preferences. The unmet local production demands are causing soil and water pollution, competition for biomass, land, and water, but also grassland degradation, biodiversity loss, and increased GHGs emissions. Rwanda has the lowest productivity in the region, largely due to inadequate and poor-quality livestock feed resources. To increase animal productivity, promoting forage species with higher nutritional value and better adaptation to drought-prone and poor-fertility soils could be beneficial. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study explores Brachiaria forage adoption and profitability and analyses policy objectives and measures to overcome adoption barriers and promote the transition from subsistence to market-oriented systems. Results show that Brachiaria, although advantageous from an economic point of view, is characterised by very low adoption rates. Furthermore, access to extension programmes is limited and often not supported by adequate incentives. To overcome such barriers, policy interventions should be harmonised and information and knowledge management prioritised, public and private extension and advisory services (EASs) programmes coordinated, agricultural input subsidies increased, and institutional coordination promoted to enhance climate-smart animal feeding.

Predictors of Toxic Metal/Metalloid Exposures Among Mexican Americans in Starr County, Texas.

Arsenic, cadmium, and lead are toxic elements that widely contaminate our environment. These toxicants are associated with acute and chronic health problems, and evidence suggests that minority communities, including Hispanic/Latino Americans, are disproportionately exposed. Few studies have assessed culturally specific predictors of exposure to understand the potential drivers of racial/ethnic exposure disparities. We sought to evaluate acculturation measures as predictors of metal/metalloid (hereafter "metal") concentrations among Mexican American adults to illuminate potential exposure sources that may be targeted for interventions. As part of a longitudinal cohort, 510 adults, aged 35 to 69years, underwent baseline interview, physical examination, and urine sample collection. Self-reported acculturation was assessed across various domains using the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH). Multivariable linear regression was used to assess associations between acculturation and urinaryconcentrations of arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Ordinal logistic regression was utilized to assess associations between acculturation and a metal mixture score. Lastly, best subset selection was used to build a prediction model for each toxic metal with a combination of the acculturation predictors. After adjustment, immigration factors were positively associated with arsenic and lead concentrations. For lead alone, English language and American media and food preferences were associated with lower levels. Immigration and parental heritage from Mexico were positively associated with the metal mixture, while preferences for English language, media, and food were negatively associated. Acculturation-related predictors of exposure provide information about potential sources of toxic metals, including international travel, foods, and consumer products. The findings in this research study provide information to empower future efforts to identify and address specific acculturation-associated toxicant exposures in order to promote health equity through clinical guidance, patient education, and public policy.

Nutrition-Related Knowledge Graph Neural Network for Food Recommendation.

Food recommendation systems are becoming increasingly vital in modern society, given the fast-paced lifestyle and diverse dietary habits. Existing research and implemented solutions often rely on user preferences and past behaviors for recommendations, which poses significant issues. Firstly, this approach inadequately considers the nutritional content of foods, potentially leading to recommendations that are overly homogeneous and lacking in diversity. Secondly, it may result in repetitive suggestions of the same types of foods, thereby encouraging users to develop unhealthy dietary habits that could adversely affect their overall health. To address this issue, we introduce a novel nutrition-related knowledge graph (NRKG) method based on graph convolutional networks (GCNs). This method not only enhances users' ability to select appropriate foods but also encourages the development of healthy eating habits, thereby contributing to overall public health. The NRKG method comprises two key components: user nutrition-related food preferences and recipe nutrition components. The first component gathers nutritional information from recipes that users show interest in and synthesizes these data for user reference. The second component connects recipes with similar nutritional profiles, forming a complex heterogeneous graph structure. By learning from this graph, the NRKG method integrates user preferences with nutritional data, resulting in more accurate and personalized food recommendations. We evaluated the NRKG method against six baseline methods using real-world food datasets. In the 100% dataset, the five metrics exceeded the performance of the best baseline method by 2.8%, 5.9%, 1.5%, 9.7%, and 6.0%, respectively. The results indicate that our NRKG method significantly outperforms the baseline methods, including FeaStNet, DeepGCN, GraphSAGE, GAT, UniMP, and GATv2, demonstrating its superiority and effectiveness in promoting healthier and more diverse eating habits. Unlike these baseline methods, which primarily focus on hierarchical information propagation, our NRKG method offers a more comprehensive approach by integrating the nutritional information of recipes with user preferences.

The cortical amygdala consolidates a socially transmitted long-term memory

Social communication guides decision-making, which is essential for survival. Social transmission of food preference (STFP) is an ecologically relevant memory paradigm in which an animal learns a desirable food odour from another animal in a social context, creating a long-term memory1,2. How food-preference memory is acquired, consolidated and stored is unclear. Here we show that the posteromedial nucleus of the cortical amygdala (COApm) serves as a computational centre in long-term STFP memory consolidation by integrating social and sensory olfactory inputs. Blocking synaptic signalling by the COApm-based circuit selectively abolished STFP memory consolidation without impairing memory acquisition, storage or recall. COApm-mediated STFP memory consolidation depends on synaptic inputs from the accessory olfactory bulb and on synaptic outputs to the anterior olfactory nucleus. STFP memory consolidation requires protein synthesis, suggesting a gene-expression mechanism. Deep single-cell and spatially resolved transcriptomics revealed robust but distinct gene-expression signatures induced by STFP memory formation in the COApm that are consistent with synapse restructuring. Our data thus define a neural circuit for the consolidation of a socially communicated long-term memory, thereby mechanistically distinguishing protein-synthesis-dependent memory consolidation from memory acquisition, storage or retrieval.

Assessing grazing of Rugulopteryx okamurae (Ochrophyta) by the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Echinodermata): a prospect for the biocontrol of the alien species?

ABSTRACT Rugulopteryx okamurae is an invasive non-indigenous species (NIS) of marine alga present in the benthic communities of the Strait of Gibraltar, where it has colonized most of the coast triggering ecological, economic and social consequences. The purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus is a generalist herbivore with potential to provide resistance to this NIS. Two experiments were carried out to determine if (i) P. lividus consumes R. okamurae under laboratory conditions, (ii) to assess its grazing preferences when this NIS is offered together with the native Ulva sp. and (iii) to find biochemical tissue markers related to R. okamurae ingestion. In the first experiment, sea urchins fed with R. okamurae, Ulva sp. or both diets were evaluated in groups for two months. Ingestion, food preference, growth and survival were assessed. In the second one, the same specimens from the R. okamurae and mixed diets were used to analyse their individual preferences, ingestion rates, growth and fatty acid profiles during another two months. Ingestion rates showed that sea urchins accepted the NIS R. okamurae as food under laboratory conditions, increasing its intake after a long exposure period. The electivity values for R. okamurae also increased when P. lividus was exposed to this alga for a long time. Regarding the fatty acids profile of tissues, the results showed that intestinal arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6) clearly differentiates sea urchins fed with R. okamurae from those fed with the mixed diet. ARA also appeared to be related to the feeding preferences, highlighting this fatty acid as a reliable marker of R. okamurae ingestion. Further research is needed in order to determine P. lividus feeding behaviour and its role as a biocontrol species in the areas invaded by R. okamurae.

Oral size perception and texture preferences for particle-containing foods in children aged 5-12.

Foods containing bits and pieces are often less liked by children; however, there is a limited understanding of how perceptions and preferences for foods with particles change during childhood. This study aimed to investigate preferences and perceptions of particle-containing foods in children aged 5-12 years. Children (n = 485) completed a forced-choice questionnaire on drawings of six pairs of foods, each available with or without particles. Additionally, children tasted yogurts added with muesli differing in particle size (median diameter: 3.9 or 7.5 mm) and evaluated their perception of particle size in mouth and their liking. The questionnaire results showed that children had a clear preference for foods without particles. The average probability of choosing the 'with-particle' foods was 28%, significantly below the midpoint of 50% (p < .0001). Preferences for particle-containing foods were lowest at age six and increased significantly with age (p = .0007). In the taste test, muesli particle size affected oral size perception (p < .0001) but not liking (p = .60). Older children were better able to differentiate particle size than younger children. However, there was no relationship between individual preferences for particle-containing foods and oral size perception of muesli particles. The observation that children's texture preferences changed with age highlights the role of increased experience in shaping preferences for foods with particles.

Characteristics of the Diet, Food Preferences, and Perceptions of Healthy Eating in 11–12-Year-Old Schoolchildren

Introduction: The issue of healthy eating of schoolchildren as one of the most important factors in maintaining and improving health of the younger generation, as well as preventing non-communicable diseases in the population as a whole, is recognized as a socially significant problem at the international level and in many countries of the world, including Russia. Objective: To establish characteristics of the diet, food preferences, and awareness about the importance of healthy eating among 11–12-year-old schoolchildren in order to determine teaching content promoting healthy eating practices in this age group. Materials and methods: The questionnaire-based survey was conducted from May to August 2023 involving 150 fifth-year schoolchildren from Cherepovets (mean age: 12.3 ± 0.37 years). The questionnaire contained closed-ended questions grouped into three blocks corresponding to the subject of study and the answers were then analyzed using quantitative, qualitative, and generalization methods. Results: Nutritional imbalance in the 11–12-year-old schoolchildren was established. We noted low daily consumption of potable water in 32.0 % of the respondents, the absence of fermented dairy products, cheese or cottage cheese (17.8 % and 18.7 %, respectively), as well as fish (51.3 %), meat (16.7 %), eggs (23.5 %), and porridge (36.2 %) in the diet. At the same time, we observed a high frequency of daily consumption of sausages (28.7 %), mayonnaise or ketchup (19.3 %) accompanied by low daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables (ca. 58.0 %). Preferring sweet carbonated drinks to juices (41.5 %) and fried foods (52.6 %) indicated unhealthy dietary habits. 42.0 % of the teenagers had certain gaps in knowledge about healthy eating. Conclusions: The established dietary habits, food preferences, and perceptions of healthy eating among 11–12-year-old schoolchildren indicate the need for proper nutrition education at school.

Exploring Adolescents’ Food Preferences and Perceptions of “Healthy Foods” in Ghana: Insights From a Photo Sorting Activity

Exploring Adolescents’ Food Preferences and Perceptions of “Healthy Foods” in Ghana: Insights From a Photo Sorting Activity