Food changes conditioned by presence of long-term illness or health problems

Abstract

Objectives: Aim of this study was to show changes in the nutrition of respondents with the presence of a long-term illness or a health problem of adults respondents in Serbian communities in Kosovo and Metohija. Methods:Research was conducted as a cross-sectional study and covers adults defined subpopulations in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. To collect data on the existence of a long-term illness or a health problem and their changes in nutrition, was used a Questionnaire for examining the health of the population of the Republic of Serbia. From the statistical methods was used Chi-square test, with significance of 0.05. Results:From the 1067 respondents, 262 (24.3%) reported that they had some long-term illness or a health problem. About healthwhen selectingfoodsthought20.8% which was not statistically significantly higher than the respondents without long-term illness or a health problem (21.5%). However, among the respondents with long-term illness or a health problem, significantly more were those who reduced salt, sugar and fat in the year of testing (p <0.001), increased the intake of vegetables and fruits (p <0.01) and reduced the intake of alcohol (p = 0.03) in the relation to respondents without long-term illness or a health problem. Conclusion: Our research has shown that individuals with long-term illness or heath problem in the year preceding the study significantly changed eating habits in terms of reduced intake of harmful and increased intake of healthy foods.