Women’s knowledge, perception and practice about edible oils and fast-food restaurants: A qualitative study from Iran

Edible oils are among the most important components of food as a major source ofenergy for human survival. The purpose of this study is to explore women’s knowledgeand behavior about edible oils and the importance of various factors affecting the choiceof fast-food restaurants among Iranian women consumers. In this qualitative study,eight Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted among women (n=82) whowere responsible for food handling in their households from 5 districts of Tehran in 6health centers. Each session was held with 7-10 participants with their voices recorded.The final transcripts were read to obtain categories until developing themes by usingdirected content analysis and constant comparison methods. Three categories emergedwith 14 themes and 87 sub-themes: 1) Edible oil from usage to disposal in households2) Fast-food restaurants 3) Building consumer trust. Frying oil was the highestconsumed oil used by women for preparing meals. The participant’s mentioned that themain problem of fast-food restaurants was edible oils, but the first criterion to selectthese kind restaurants was hygiene. The main comments that the participantsrecommended for building their trust to fast-food restaurants, was the visible kitchen.Majority of women had desirable knowledge about the advantages of home-cookedfoods and disadvantages of edible oils in fast-food restaurants, but they prefer to choosefast-food restaurants for changing the mood, making fun and also the variety of food.Furthermore, most of them were uncertain about the quality and safety of fast-foodrestaurants. Our results showed that most of the participants poured extra used oil intothe sewer .Encouraging the women as food gate keepers in the households for choosinghealthy and safe edible oils for safety cooking is highly recommended. Health policymakers should pay greater attention to address educational interventions to increasehealthy food consumption. The Environmental Department should design a system forcollecting and recycling used cooking oils in the level of households. Improving thenutritional food quality of fast-food companies can lead to increasing the health of thecommunity and reducing the non-communicable diseases.

کلیدواژه ها:

Knowledge ، Perception ، Preference ، Edible oil ، Fast-food restaurants