Knowledge of probiotics and factors affecting their consumption by Jordanian College students

Anas A. Al-Nabulsi, Bayan Obiedat, Rasha Ali, Tareq M. Osaili, Heba Bawadi, Aisha Abushelaibi, Reyad R. Shaker, Richard A. Holley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The objectives o f this study were to assess the knowledge and belief regarding probiotics and determine factors associated with their consumption among Jordanian college students. A total o f1000 students (58.8% females and 41.2% males) were interviewed using a cross sectional study. Each student was asked to complete a questionnaire including socio-demographic data and took a probiotic knowledge test. The results obtained showed that 11.7% o fstudents had heard o fprobiotics, but only 7.0% correctly knew what probiotics were. Probiotic knowledge among students was significantly correlated with gender, marital status and the students major with females being more knowledgeable than males. Students who had a higher knowledge score were significantly more willing to try probiotic products when they were recommended (p< 0.05). It is important that the informations about healthenhancing foods translated into simple, understandable and convincing messages that the consumer can realize in order to overcome the lack o fknowledge aboutprobiotic among educated consumers such as university students. Therefore, there is a need fo r health specialists to spend extra effort to educate students about the nature o fprobiotics and their health benefits which in turn could be used as prevention toolfor the occurrence o f many diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)77-86
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Probiotics and Prebiotics
Volume9
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - Jan 1 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Knowledge
  • Probiotics
  • Student
  • Survey

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Animals
  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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