Browsing by Author "Costa, Alexandra Ferreira da"
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- Food neophobia and its association with food preferences and dietary intake of adultsPublication . Costa, Alexandra Ferreira da; Oliveira, AndreiaBackground: Food neophobia has been associated with less healthy food choices and with poorer overall dietary quality, but it may also affect food preferences. The objective of this study was to assess the association of both food preferences and dietary intake with food neophobia in a sample of Portuguese adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a non-probabilistic sample of 229 adults, aged 18 to 84 years. Food Neophobia was measured with the Pliner’s and Hobden’s Food Neophobia Scale, previously validated. To assess the dietary intake over the previous 12 months, a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was applied. We defined a dietary pattern - the Healthy Diet Indicator (measuring adherence to dietary guidelines) to summarise the effects of overall dietary intake. Generalised linear models were performed to test those associations in multivariate analyses (β̂ and the respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI), controlled for sex, age and education). Results: Food neophobia was negatively associated with a general liking for the act of eating (β̂=-2.976, 95%CI:-5.324;-0.993) and with reduced preferences for specific foods, such as fruit and vegetables, game meat, oily fish, seafood, fish soup, and traditional Portuguese dishes with blood. Those with higher food neophobia showed a lower consumption of fruits and vegetables, but a higher consumption of milk and codfish, a very popular Portuguese dish. However, food neophobia did not affect the macronutrients and energy intake, as well as sodium, added sugars and fibre intake. Adherence to a healthy dietary pattern was not significantly associated with food neophobia. Conclusions: Our data indicate that the food neophobia level decreases the consumption and the preference for specific foods, but has no impact on a healthy dietary pattern.