Search

BACKGROUND: The aim of this paper was to map consumers' food hygiene practices from 10 European countries and evaluate which demographic groups are more likely to be exposed to foodborne pathogens and establish a ranking of adherence to food hygiene practices in 10 European countries. METHODS: The research design consisted of a cross-national quantitative consumer survey regarding food safety and hygiene practices during meal preparation (SafeConsume project) and was conducted in ten European countries (France, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain and UK). The survey questions were based on recommended hand hygiene practices and on observed practices from a field study performed in 90 European households from six of the countries covered by the survey (France, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, Romania, and UK). SPSS Statistics 26 (IBM Software Group, Chicago, IL) was used for the descriptive and regression analyses of the data. Regression analyses were used to check the relation between demographic characteristics, country of origin and self-reported hand hygiene practices. RESULTS: According to the regression models, families with elderly members aged over 65 showed a higher tendency to follow proper hand washing practices compared to families without elderly members. Meanwhile, families with children under the age of 6 reported being up to twice as likely to wash their hands at critical moments compared to families without children. Overall, taking into consideration the likelihood of washing hands after touching raw chicken and the percentages scores for proper hand cleaning methods and key moments for hand washing, the rank of the countries regarding proper hand hygiene practices was the following: Denmark, Greece, Norway, Romania, Hungary, Germany, UK, Portugal, France, and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: Information and education should point both at the key moments as suggested by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) and the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH) and safe practices. Public health burden generated by improper hand washing may be significantly reduced if education is targeted on consumers' behaviour and practices.

Background Goals play an important role in the choices that individuals make. Yet, there is no clear approach of how to incorporate goals in discrete choice experiments. In this paper, we present such an approach and illustrate it in the context of lifestyle programs. Furthermore, we investigate how non-health vs. health goals affect individuals’ choices via non-goal attributes. Methods We used an unlabeled discrete choice experiment about lifestyle programs based on two experimental conditions in which either a non-health goal (i.e., looking better) or a health goal (i.e., increasing life expectancy) was presented to respondents as a fixed attribute level for the goal attribute. Respondents were randomly distributed over the experimental conditions. Eventually, we used data from 407 Dutch adults who reported to be overweight (n = 212 for the non-health goal, and n = 195 for the health goal). Results Random parameter logit model estimates show that the type of goal significantly (p Conclusions A flexible diet is more important for individuals with a non-health goal than for individuals with a health goal. Therefore, we advise policy makers to use information on goal interactions for developing new policies and communication strategies to target population segments that have different goals. Furthermore, we recommend researchers to consider the impact of goals when designing discrete choice experiments.

BackgroundThe number of interventions to support parents is growing. The level of evidence regarding these intervention varies. In this paper we describe a study that aims to assess the effectiveness of specific ‘elements’ within such parenting interventions for families with children up to 7 years. A naturalistic effect evaluation will be applied. Study questions are:What is the exposure of parents to (elements of) parenting interventions in the daily practice of preventive youth health care?What are the associations between the exposure to (elements of) parenting interventions and outcomes in parents/children related to parenting and child development?Methods/designThousand parents/caregivers are recruited by preventive youth health care providers in the Netherlands. Measurements will be performed after inclusion and after 12-months follow up. Data regarding child/parent/caregiver characteristics, use of (parenting) interventions and care, and outcomes with regard to parenting skills, family functioning and child development will be collected. Outcomes will be compared between parents/children exposed and non-exposed to the (elements of) parenting interventions (adjusting for confounders).DiscussionWe hypothesize that parents/caregivers with exposure to (elements of) parenting interventions show (relatively more) improvements in parenting outcomes. Results will support intervention selection/development, and support communities/professionals to select appropriate intervention-elements.Trial registrationNetherlands National Trial Register numberNL7342. Date of registration: 05-November-2018, retrospectively registered.