Knowledge of the clients of a shop of food supplements on healthy food and associated factors

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of customers of a food supplement store about healthy eating and associated factors. Materials and Methods: This is an analytical, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. This study was carried out in a shop that markets food supplements in the city of Montes Claros-MG. Participants were selected by convenience and intentionally selected clients, who accepted to respond to the questionnaires, which were over 18 years of age. Questionnaires were used to evaluate socio-demographic and economic characteristics, life habits, physical activity level, smoking, alcohol consumption, weight loss treatment and Body Mass Index. To assess knowledge about healthy eating and the use of dietary supplements, subjects responded to a questionnaire adapted from Zamin and Schimanoski (2010). Results: With regard to knowledge about healthy eating, 91.8% of respondents stated that they had very good/sufficient knowledge about this practice and 60.7% believe that healthy eating is indispensable in the practice of physical activity. There was a significant association between knowledge about healthy eating with the variables: schooling (p=0.023), number of daily meals (p=0.020), knowledge about dietary supplements (p=0.003) and physical activity practice (p=0.028). Conclusion: It is concluded that people have increasingly sought knowledge about healthy eating to meet their food needs and that factors such as level of schooling, number of daily meals, knowledge about dietary supplements and physical activity are factors that are associated with knowledge about healthy eating in this population.