Who likes meat, fish, and seafood? Influence of sex, age, body mass index, smoking, and olfactory efficiency on meat product preferences

Abstract

Meat, fish, and seafood are animal products that can be found in various forms in the human diet. In Western culture, there are trends to reduce meat consumption. This work was created to assess how various factors influence the fact that we like to eat meat, fish, and seafood. Exploring these relationships will contribute to our understanding of why dietary interventions for the above foods may be so difficult to implement in some groups of people. Two hundred eighty‐three people living in Poland took part in the study. An interview and olfactory tests were conducted together with assessments of food preferences from 25 types of food products. The extent to which sex, age, body mass index, tobacco addiction, and sense of smell influence ‘meat, fish and seafood’ consumption was assessed. Using the factor analysis, a coherent group of ‘meat, fish and seafood’ products was selected: beef, pork, veal, cured meats, poultry, fish dishes, and seafood. ‘Meat, fish and seafood’ was liked more by men, compared to women (B = .85; CI = .60, 1.10; t = 6.66, η2 = .14; p < .001), whereas other factors did not affect the preference of dishes from this group as a whole. A detailed analysis of each type of food separately showed, however, that not only is gender important, but fish is liked more by older people, and cured meats by people who identify odors more efficiently. When planning a diet change, including the products mentioned above, we should consider the sex and age of the person to whom the diet is addressed, because men declare a higher derived pleasure from eating various types of meat, fish, and seafood than women, while older people like fish more.