The role of healthy eating and functional foods in the protection of the immune system, especially the consumption of vegetables and fruits: lifestyle survey among adult population

ABSTRACT

Our manuscript focuses on vegetables and fruits as functional foods. Our questionnaire survey was conducted at the end of the third wave of the pandemic, however, we also paid increased attention to lifestyle, mostly dietary, changes in the active stages of the coronavirus pandemic, especially vegetable and fruit consumption patterns. Our quantitative analysis was carried out with the help of 9 questionnaires, including 4 cumulative closed-ended questionnaires, which were divided into four main groups of statistical activities. We first analysed demographic data and then focused on health status, knowledge of concepts, and assessment of consumer needs. For the statistical evaluation of our survey, we performed a descriptive statistical analysis, including a distribution analysis of demography and related issues. Next, we calculated the appropriate type of correlation between the questions, which was evaluated in Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS Statistics 26. The number of respondents was n = 109, of which 37% were male and 63% female. Before evaluating our results, we also asked a research question To what extent did the attitudes related to regular exercise, healthy eating and the importance of health change during the active stages of the pandemic? Based on our empirical analyses, an increase in extremes can be observed with regular exercise. In terms of general health, there was an increase in the "extremely important" category. In the active phase of the pandemic, the number of vegetable consumers was lower, and among the proponents of a healthy diet, the consumption of fruit foods was not significantly higher. Based on our conclusions, this is due on the one hand to the restrictions during the pandemic and on the other hand to the endowment of fruit-containing foods with negative properties (e.g. made with the addition of sugar).