We Declare One FoodStuff and Eat Another

“We eat and drink healthy foodstuffs: margarine, chips, salami, rosy sausage, sausages, fried potatoes and sparkling juices”.

There is an old saying telling that “It is long way from saying to doing”, a perfectly adapted proverb to Romanian eating habits.

The study “Attitudes and Perceptions Related to Healthy Eating” carried out by the Market Research Institute - EXACT Research and Consulting during the period between 24th of March – 1st of April shows that Romanians located in the urban environment are not consistent in their statements when it comes to their eating habits.

Although 62% of persons interviewed declare that they serve healthy or very healthy meals, Romanians consume foodstuffs that are not necessarily ranging within the category of foodstuffs deemed as healthy.

The responses to the question "Have you personally consumed the following foodstuffs in the last week?" confirm the hypothesis that Romanians heavily consumes potatoes which rank on the first place: 94% of them mention to have consumed potatoes in the last week followed by white bread (76%) and still water (67%).
More than 50% stated they have consumed: cheese + melted cheese - 61%, simple yoghourt -59%, chocolate, candies - 58%, honey - 55%, black bread - 52%, salami/rosy sausage/sausages – 49%. Even though still water ranks second in terms of foodstuffs consumed in the last week, it is not recorded in the top positions when it comes to mentions referring to vital foodstuffs in order to live a healthy living.

There are differences between those who mentioned observing a healthy eating and those who did not in terms of foodstuffs specified to have been consumed in the last week; but these differences are not substantial: indeed, white bread is more and more replaced by black bread, still water is consumed by a greater percentage of those declaring themselves satisfied with their eating but products less healthier were also present as ingredients of their meals: 43% have consumed fried potatoes in the last week, 34% margarine, the same percentage also mentioned chips, sticks and biscuits and 33% sparkling juices.

The study carried out on a sample of 553 persons interviewed via the telephone is representative for the adult (15-60 years old), non-institutionalized population, living in Romania, displaying a maximum sampling error of 4.2%, guaranteed for an assurance probability of 95%.