Department of Consumer and Food Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
PepsiCo Global Research & Development, Life Sciences, PepsiCo, Purchase, NY 10577, USA.
Nutrients. 2023 Aug 10;15(16):3522. doi: 10.3390/nu15163522.
Evidence indicates that whole-grain food consumption reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and some cancers. Increasing whole-grain consumption in developing countries is likely to significantly benefit the health of the population. However, there is very limited information on consumer whole-grain knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in developing countries. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1000 South African consumers with sufficient income to make food purchase choices and who were generally representative in terms of gender, age, and ethnicity. Most respondents (64%) were confident of their whole-grain knowledge. However, 60% of all participants selected incorrect definitions of whole grains. Whilst most correctly identified common cereals as whole grains, at most 50% of participants correctly identified common whole-grain foods. Also, whilst most (67%) thought that they were consuming enough whole grains, the majority (62%) underestimated the recommended level of consumption. Furthermore, respondent knowledge regarding whole-grain food attributes and the health benefits of whole-grain consumption was generally poor. Clearly, consumer-focused strategies are needed in developing countries to increase whole-grain food consumption to help the broader population achieve a healthy and sustainable diet. Actions proposed include: simple-to-understand information on whole-grain content relative to recommendations on food product labels, the provision of whole-grain foods in school nutrition schemes, and coordinated social and behavior change communication initiatives.
有证据表明，全谷物食品的消费可降低心血管疾病、2 型糖尿病和某些癌症的风险。在发展中国家增加全谷物的消费可能会极大地有益于民众的健康。然而，关于发展中国家消费者对全谷物的知识、态度和行为的信息非常有限。本研究在有足够收入来做出食物购买选择且在性别、年龄和种族方面具有代表性的 1000 名南非消费者中进行了一项在线横断面调查。大多数受访者（64%）对自己的全谷物知识有信心。然而，60%的参与者选择了错误的全谷物定义。尽管大多数人正确地识别出了常见的谷物为全谷物，但只有 50%的参与者正确地识别出了常见的全谷物食品。此外，虽然大多数人（67%）认为自己摄入了足够的全谷物，但大多数人（62%）低估了推荐的摄入量。此外，受访者对全谷物食品属性和全谷物消费的健康益处的知识普遍较差。显然，发展中国家需要采取以消费者为中心的策略来增加全谷物食品的消费，以帮助更广泛的人群实现健康和可持续的饮食。提出的行动包括：在食品产品标签上提供有关全谷物含量的简单易懂的信息，在学校营养计划中提供全谷物食品，以及协调社会和行为改变的宣传倡议。
