Present Food Shopping Habits in the Spanish Adult Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Information on grocery shopping patterns is one key to understanding dietary changes in recent years in Spain. This report presents an overview of Spanish food shopping patterns in the adult population. A cross-sectional, nationally representative telephone survey was conducted in Spain. Individuals were asked about food shopping responsibility roles, types of visited food stores, time spent, additional behaviors while shopping, the influence of marketing/advertising and, in particular, fresh produce shopping profile. Binary logistic regression models were developed. The final random sample included 2026 respondents aged ≥18 years, of which 1223 were women and 803 were men. Women reported being in charge of most of the food shopping activities. Looking for best prices, more than looking for healthy or sustainable foods, seemed to be a general behavior. Supermarkets were the preferred retail spaces for food price consideration, convenience, variety and availability. Fresh produce shopping was associated with traditional markets and neighborhood stores in terms of reliance and personalized service. It is essential to highlight the importance of the role played by women. They are the main supporters concerned in preserving adequate dietary habits. Economic factors, more than health or food sustainability, are commonly considered by the population. Traditional markets may play an important role in preserving some healthy dietary habits of the Mediterranean food culture in Spain.

Adaptation and Evaluation of the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores to Assess Mediterranean Food Environments (NEMS-S-MED)

“…During modification, we considered the applicability of the NEMS-S instrument to the Mediterranean context by referring to the latest update of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, the most recent dietary guidelines for the Spanish setting, and current purchasing patterns of the Spanish population [ 23 , 26 , 27 ]. As such, we included additional food items not found in the original NEMS-S: nuts, oil, legumes, or fish.…”

“…Mediterranean retail food environments present specific characteristics, including trust in small retailers, as opposed to the large reliance of retail chains of supermarkets in the U.S and other Anglo-Saxon countries [ 21 , 22 ]. Moreover, consumers eat more fish, legumes, and olive oil in Southern European countries [ 23 ]. Yet, to our knowledge, neither a tool to measure the consumer food environment nor an adaptation of the NEMS-S tool exists for these settings.…”

Food Purchasing Characteristics and Perceptions of Neighborhood Food Environment of South Africans Living in Low-, Middle- and High-Socioeconomic Neighborhoods

“…As expected, shoppers in our study were predominantly women who were mostly responsible for household food decisions, including the purchase and preparation of food. This is a very typical scenario in an African setting where women primarily make decisions related to food consumed in the household [11,47]. The fact that the shoppers from high SEAs were significantly less likely to be responsible for food preparation, may reflect a gender bias, in that men were more well-represented in our intercept interviews in the high SEAs compared to those in the low and middle SEAs.…”

Do Polish Consumers Take Proper Care of Hygiene while Shopping and Preparing Meals at Home in the Context of Wasting Food?

“…The above observation is of particular importance in the context of the place of shopping. In Poland [40], but also in other European countries, e.g., Spain [41], supermarkets are a very popular distribution channel for food products, among others. The proximity to home, the price, and the convenience, as well as variety and availability are important criteria in choosing these retail spaces, similar to other studies [42].…”

“…A comparable number of women and men took part in the proper study. The least numerous group by age was respondents aged [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. The percentage shares of other age groups were similar.…”