Food Science and Nutrition Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, 11495, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jun 16;13(1):9742. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-36980-x.
In the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia, the offering of a meat dish to guests is a deeply embedded cultural tradition, and a meat-based diet is the standard in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the rise of veganism and vegetarianism within Saudi Arabia is surprising and worthy of attention, as is understanding the perceptions and motivations behind this phenomenon, particularly as they relate to food and sustainability. This research was designed to investigate this emerging phenomenon and to identify key differences in dietarian identity between Saudi vegetarians and vegans using Rosenfeld and Burrow's Dietarian Identity Questionnaire. Among other results, the vegan group scored significantly higher on the prosocial motivation construct, suggesting the desire to help society as a whole is a stronger motivating factor for vegans. As well, the vegan cohort scored higher in the personal motivation category. From an environmental and public health perspective, understanding the key factors motivating individuals to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet in a meat-based culture like Saudi Arabia can be used to encourage others to pursue more healthy and sustainable food behaviors.
在中东地区，特别是在沙特阿拉伯，向客人提供肉类菜肴是一种根深蒂固的文化传统，以肉类为基础的饮食是沙特阿拉伯的标准。因此，素食主义和纯素食主义在沙特阿拉伯的兴起令人惊讶，值得关注，了解这一现象背后的看法和动机也很重要，特别是与食物和可持续性有关的看法和动机。本研究旨在调查这一新兴现象，并使用罗森菲尔德和伯罗的饮食身份问卷识别沙特素食者和纯素食者之间饮食身份的关键差异。除其他结果外，纯素食者在亲社会动机结构上的得分明显更高，这表明帮助整个社会的愿望是纯素食者更强的动机因素。此外，纯素食者在个人动机类别中的得分更高。从环境和公共卫生的角度来看，了解在像沙特阿拉伯这样以肉类为基础的文化中促使个人采用素食或纯素食饮食的关键因素，可以用来鼓励其他人养成更健康和可持续的食物行为。
