RESUMEN
Con el fin de informar a consumidores de supermercados de la Región Metropolitana sobre una alimentación saludable, conocer sus inquietudes nutricionales y caracterizar una compra habitual, se elaboraron y distribuyeron 475.000 ejemplares de materiales educativos sobre 9 temas nutricionales durante tres meses y se encuestó a 720 consumidores seleccionados al azar sobre el material educativo retirado, los alimentos que compran habitualmente y sus inquietudes sobre nutrición. Los materiales retirados con mayor frecuencia fueron alimentación del adulto mayor (15 por ciento), grasas y aceites (14 por ciento) y alimentación del escolar (13 por ciento). La principal razón que motivó a los consumidores a acercarse al atril fue mejorar su calidad de vida (60por ciento). La mayor frecuencia de compra correspondió a verduras, frutas y pollo (94, 93 y 90 por ciento respectivamente), seguidos por margarina (60 por ciento), yogurt (59 por ciento), queso mantecoso (56 por ciento) y mayonesa (54 por ciento). Estos resultados muestran la conveniencia de informar a los consumidores sobre alimentación y nutrición para optimizar la selección y compra de alimentos.
With the purpose to inform consumers in supermarkets of the Metropolitan Region about healthy dietary habits, to know their nutritional concerns and characterizing their habitual purchases, 475,000 educational materials concerning 9 nutritional topics were elaborated and distributed over a period of three months. 720 consumers were randomly selected to receive a questionnaire concerning the distributed educational materials, food products habitually purchased and their concerns about nutritional topics. The materials that were distributed with the highest frequency were nutrition in the elderly (15 percent), fats and oils (14 percent) and nutrition in school-aged children (13 percent). The principal reason for customers to approach the stand was to improve their quality of life (60 percent). Vegetables, fruit and chicken were the most frequently purchased foods, consumed by 94, 93 and 90 percent of the study population respectively, followed by margarine (60 percent), yogurt (59 percent), cheese (56 percent) and mayonnaise (54 percent). These results show the need for consumers to obtain information about healthy eating habits and nutrition in order to optimize the selection and purchasing of food products.