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Exploration of the consumption, awareness, understanding and motivating factors related to functional foods in older adults

The functional food industry has expanded yet research into consumer perceptions of functional foods is limited. Among consumers, older adults could benefit from functional foods due to age-related health concerns. This thesis aimed to generate information about the consumption of functional foods among community-dwelling older adults (>60 years old, n=200) using a researcher-administered questionnaire. Prevalence of functional food consumption was 93.0% and yogurt with probiotics (56.0%) was the top product consumed. The primary functional food matrix consumed was yogurt (51.5%) and dietary fibre was the primary functional food bioactive consumed (79.5%). Most participants (86.2%) consume functional foods to improve health and osteoporosis/bone health (67.5%), heart disease (61.0%) and arthritis (55.0%) were the primary health areas identified. Participants wanted more information about functional foods (63.5%) with preferred sources being newspapers/magazines/books (68.5%) and food labels (66.1%). These results inform stakeholders regarding the potential of functional foods to promote improved health among older adults. / Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OGU.10214/5200
Date03 January 2013
CreatorsVella, Meagan N.
ContributorsDuncan, Alison M.
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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