Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, and Kralovske Vinohrady University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic.
Cent Eur J Public Health. 2023 Sep;31(3):191-197. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a7693.
The growing popularity of diets that restrict the consumption of animal-based foods is an important new challenge for the public healthcare system in Czechia. While the environmental and health-related benefits of plant-based diets are widely discussed in the media, people who follow these diets may lack professional support in terms of nutritional advice and even access to healthcare. The present study aims to map the nutritional practices and experiences with the healthcare system of people in Czechia who follow vegan diets.
In a qualitative study we conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty-one self-reported adult vegans (14 women and 7 men; 18 with university education) who were on a vegan diet for at least a year. We were specifically interested in their motivation for why and how they became vegans; their everyday diet and eating routines; their use of health care and experiences with medical professionals; their nutritional knowledge and use of supplementation; and their perception of their health and embodiment.
The primary motivations for going vegan are ethical, environmental and health-related. Vegans see themselves and their diet as generally healthier, but for this to be true they must spend a considerable amount of time researching nutritional requirements and what dietary supplements they need. To this end, they tend to rely mainly on non-medical sources of information. Because of the lack of acceptance of veganism among primary-care physicians, vegans tend not to seek out medical advice or tell their doctor about their eating habits in order to avoid conflicts and negative experiences.
We identified a perceived lack of accessible educational materials and potentially limited access to primary healthcare recommendations for people who eliminate the consumption of animal-based foods. These findings deserve further research and public health risk-mitigation strategies.
限制食用动物源性食品的饮食方式日益流行，这对捷克公共卫生系统来说是一个新的重要挑战。虽然媒体广泛讨论了植物性饮食的环境和健康益处，但遵循这些饮食方式的人可能在营养建议方面缺乏专业支持，甚至无法获得医疗保健。本研究旨在描绘捷克素食者的营养实践和与医疗保健系统的互动情况。
在一项定性研究中，我们对 21 名自我报告的成年素食者（14 名女性和 7 名男性；18 人受过大学教育）进行了半结构式访谈，他们至少坚持了一年的素食。我们特别关注他们成为素食者的动机，包括原因和方式；他们的日常饮食和饮食习惯；他们使用医疗保健服务的情况和与医疗专业人员的互动；他们的营养知识和使用补充剂的情况；以及他们对自己健康和身体的感知。
选择素食的主要动机是出于伦理、环境和健康方面的考虑。素食者认为自己和自己的饮食更健康，但为了做到这一点，他们必须花费大量时间研究营养需求和所需的膳食补充剂。为此，他们倾向于主要依赖非医疗信息来源。由于初级保健医生对素食主义的接受程度较低，素食者往往不会寻求医疗建议或告诉医生自己的饮食习惯，以免产生冲突和负面体验。
我们发现，人们在消除动物源性食物消费时，可能会感到缺乏可获得的教育材料和潜在有限的初级保健建议。这些发现值得进一步研究和制定公共卫生风险缓解策略。
