Beliefs and attitudes towards the consumption of sugar-free products in a sample of Italian adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to investigate beliefs and attitudes towards sugar-free products in a sample of Italian teenagers.

DESIGN

A total of 10 secondary public schools in the county of Rome were randomly selected. The probability of being extracted was set proportional to the number of students. A random sample of teenagers was selected from the schools for participating in a food consumption survey.

SUBJECTS

The sample included 233 adolescents, aged 15-21 y. A total of 224 adolescents agreed to participate in the study aimed at assessing beliefs and attitudes.

INTERVENTIONS

Two questionnaires were completed at the first day of the last period of the 4-day food survey. The first questionnaire contained questions on attitudes and beliefs toward a healthy diet. The second questionnaire, aimed at assessing adolescents' attitudes towards the consumption of sugar-free products, was based in part on the social-psychological model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour.

RESULTS

In general, the adolescents of this sample seemed to be quite uncertain in their responses. On average, they did not express an emphatic point of view with regard to the act of eating sugar-free products. The results of the assessment of relationships between the variables of the theoretical model revealed the lack of causal links among beliefs, attitudes, intention and consumption of sugar-free products. Perceived behavioural control was not a significant predictor of intention.

CONCLUSIONS

The target of further studies aimed at investigating attitudes towards sugar-free products should be tailored according to the quantity of consumption of such products in order to represent a sample of frequent and high consumers of sugar-free products.

SPONSORSHIP

European Commission Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources Fifth framework Programme. QLRT-1999-00155.