Consumption of Fruits in Serbia

Consumption of Fruits in Serbia

Background

Fruits are considered to be an essential element in ensuring a healthy diet. Several studies tend to indicate some of the beneficial impacts that come with the consumption of fruits, especially in human health, and as such, it tends to be analyzed with the vegetables in the various literature. According to Agudo, the consumption of vegetables and fruits is believed to prevent certain diseases (Agudo, 2005). In 2002, there was a report published by an expert coming from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. The expert came to the conclusion that daily consumption of fruits and vegetables tends to decrease the chances that an individual will be affected by diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and obesity (Pomerleau et al., 2005). Most institutions are considered to provide recommendations that can be adequate while consuming fruits. The World Health Organization suggests that there should be an intake of between 400 and 500g per day per capita for the fruits and vegetables.

Most recommendations regarding the consumption of fruit and vegetables are deliberated to be made as a group; however, there are other separate recommendations that are usually made for the fruits. For example, in the Netherlands, people are usually advised to try and eat at least two servings of fruits daily of pears, oranges, apples, and bananas that are considered to be the most available fruits un the country. In a country such as Australia, however, the recommendation is believed to be 300g, which can be taken in two separate portions. Strbac recommends that the daily intake of fruit should amount to 400g per day of fruits (Strbac, 2007). Regardless of such recommendations in the value of fruit consumption, in several world consumption of vegetables and fruits, research suggests that there is little consumption. In fact, there is only a small percentage of the population in the world who tend to recommend the right consumption of fruits and vegetables.

The methodology of the research

There are two separate parts in which this paper has been structurally divided. After the introduction part, in which the recommendations of the amount of fruit intake and the need for such consumption have been underlined, the first part of the paper then presents the results of the research adopted relating to the consumption of fruits across the world. In relation to the recommendation on fruit consumption, the main focus tends to be fruit consumption within the Republic of Serbia.

Data regarding fruit consumption across the globe were acquired from Food and Agricultural Organizations within the United Nations database, which is deliberated to adopt the use of the balance sheet method in calculating the consumption of fruits. In an attempt to reveal the adoption of Serbia at the World level in terms of fruit consumption, there was the use of data available between 2005 and 2009. Apart from this, we also adopt the use of data on fruit consumption provided by the Statistical Office located in the Republic of Serbia that was deliberated to having been published in the Bulletin Household Budget Survey between 2006 and 2011. From these data, it was seen that fruit consumption with Serbia is at a lower level when compared to the FAO data that can be partly due to the methodologies adopted during the process of collection.

The second part of our paper presents the results from the fruit consumption results that had been conducted in 2013.  In this, there was the use of survey technique through questionnaires that were distributed electronically via internets, and as such, the number of samples included 272 individuals. The Survey was deliberate to be anonymous, and the adopted questionnaire has 16 class questions. In an attempt to perceive the attitudes relating to market supply, consumption volume, and the impacts of such consumptions, there was the use of a five-point Likert scale. The data collected via surveys were then analyzed through the use of statistical and mathematical methods.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the patterns of fruit consumption among a product that tends to appeal to the consumers and the different factors that tend to determine the daily intake of the users. In this, there is the inclusion of some of the questions that tend to relate to the socio-economic consumer characteristics, as well the various questions that are aimed at investigating the respondent’s awareness of the positive impacts associated with the consumption of fruits, especially in their health. Data collected via the use of surveys were then compared with the FAO and the WHO data on the consumption of fruits to create a clear picture of the issue being analyzed.

Trends in Fruit Consumption across the World

According to FAO, fruit production in 2009 was considered to be almost twice compared to production in 1998. In the year, there was an increase in fruit consumption by 55 percent.  The highest growth rate between 1980 and 2002 had melons, which is considered as a vegetable by certain authors (FAO & WHO, 2004).  Fruit consumption tends to vary across the world, with the least consumers reaching ranging to 41.7 capita per year, whereas the highest recorded within the developed countries going up to 114.0 kg within North America.

The largest per capita fruit consumption per year was deliberated to having been observed in Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, North America, and Southern Europe.          

Annual fruit consumption in Europe between 2006 and 2009 ranged at 93.0 kg per capita that is considered being 31.2 percent more than the global average. When this was compared to the period 1992 to 2002, the consumption of fruits was believed to be 79kg. From this, it is clear that there was some increase in the observed despite the fact that the deviation from the world’s average remaining almost identical. The highest fruit consumers are across the globe are considered to be the residents from Greece, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg, and Montenegro. In this, despite the Netherlands occupying the ninth place in terms of fruit consumption, it is considered that 70 percent of its total population tends to eat fewer fruits than the way it is recommended and as a result, this has led to a reduction in the number of fruit consumers over the years (Brug et al., 2006).

GRAPH 2

Factors determining fruit consumptions

Regarding some of the recommendations by the WHO and FAO,  most activities that tend to aim at popularizing fruit consumption should be based on factors such as price accessibility, availability of the products, acceptance in terms of taste, fruits, and quality.  According to research, fruit availability is considered to be one of the barriers to an increase in the consumption of such fruit products (Ognjanov et al. 2010). Another barrier can be deliberated to be the price of various fruit products. Research conducted in our study also confirmed such results. In this eight out of a total of ten respondents, suggested that fruit availability tends to affect the level of consumption by different individuals.

The levels of an individual income, the production volume, as well as nutritional habits, also determine fruit consumption (Strbac, 2007). In this, the daily requirement of fruits is considered to vary depending on age, physical activities, and sex. In this case, the U.S Centers in charge of Disease Preventions and Controls is deliberated to have calculators of their websites that can be used by the consumers to calculate the daily fruit intake that tends to be recommended. Such actions usually allow consumers to check that the amount of fruit intake in an easy and fun way. They can also use the additional information on the website to try and learn what might have influenced such an increase in consumptions.

Results of research and Discussion

In this research, there was a random selection of the subject under study without any prior knowledge of the research to be conducted and any pre-conditions. The gender and age structure of the respondents are shown in the table below

Table1. Respondents according to gender and age

Source: Calculations based on Survey data

The Survey conducted was considered to have covered mostly among the individuals living under in a four-member household (32%), five and more members hours hold had 12% with two-member households having 19%. The structure of the respondents in the territorial distribution was analyzed in accordance with the NUTS regions within the Republic of Serbia.  This was found to be uneven since regions such as Belgrade had 66%, Vojvodina 16%, Western Serbia 11%, and Eastern Serbia at 7%. In terms of education, the respondents with master’s degrees were 27%, university degree 38%, while Ph.D. and Higher education were 9%, respectively.

Fruits are considered to purchase within the farmer’s green markets that are located within the urban (48%) while rare within the wholesale markets, and specialized stores (3%). 23% of the total respondents were believed to be in a position of purchasing the fruits in hypermarkets, while 19% ere deliberated to purchase from the local stores. According to the survey conduct, it was interesting to note that most respondents consume 36%  of the fruits per day (200g), and there is a decline in the number of answers with the progressive increase in the number of fruits. There were fewer respondents who responded that they consume up to 300g per day, and the least answers were found in the 700g category.

Table 2: Fruit Consumption in grams daily

Source: Authors’ own calculations from the survey data

In comparing the gender, there was the adoption of the use of the T-test. In this, it was found that 37.6% of women consumed fruits while men were one third.

Graph 3. Consumption of fruits on a daily basis

Graph 5 Factors that tend to determine fruit consumption

There nine out of the total ten respondents who are aware of the importance of consumption of fruits in an individual’s health. Half of the total respondents also believe that fruit offers within the local markets tend to be satisfying. Apart from the limited supply, there have been economic factors that are considered to have impacted on the levels of fruit consumptions. In this, there are fruit prices that tend to be followed by an individual’s level s of income which determines the daily purchases by the households. More than half of the total respondents (48%) believed that they could buy more fruits with their current incomes while 12% were deliberated to being undecided whereas close to 39%  could not afford purchasing fruits as a result of a decrease in their levels of incomes.

Conclusion and Recommendation

There has been an increase in fruit consumption than the level of production over the last two decades across the world.  Though there has been some positive impacts in terms of health in the in fruit consumption, it is still considered that majority of individual across the world tend not to consume the right quantity of fruits. Reduction in fruit consumption is deemed as a characteristic of reduction in the purchasing powers and as such low levels of development. Serbia is an example of a country in which the consumption of fruits is not in accordance with most of the standards recommended.

The results in this research have pointed n most critical elements in consumption of fruits and the various areas that tends t require further research. As a result of this, there is need for different individuals to check on the standards of their various fruit intake per day. The research considers that the lowest amount of intake in a day is considered to be 200g per day, and as such there is need for individuals to ensure that their consumptions do not go below such figures.  From this research, it is also evident that there is a need to educate fruit consumers in Serbia relating to positive implications that comes with the intake of fruit products. In respect to this, there Is also a need to organize marketing activities to raise awareness on fruit consumption and its importance in treating most cardiovascular diseases.

Reference

Agudo A. (2005): Measuring Intake of Fruit and Vegetables. Background paper for the Joint FAO/WHO Workshop on Fruit and Vegetables for Health, Kobe, Japan.

Božić D., Nikolić M. M. (2013): Significance and comparative advantages of the agrarian sector in Serbian foreign trade. Paper presented on the International Symposium: Agriculture and Rural Development.

Brug J., De Vet E., De Nooijer J., Verplanken B. (2006): Predicting Fruit Consumption: Cognitions, Intention, and Habits. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour, Vol. 38, Issue 2, pp. 73–81.

FAO/WHO (2003): Diet, nutrition and the prevent of chronic diseases. Report of the joint FAO/WHO expert Consultation, Geneva, World Health Organisation (WHO Technical Report Series Number 916)

FAO/WHO (2004): Fruit and vegetables for health: Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Workshop on Fruit and Vegetables, 1-3 September, 2004, Kobe, Japan. 433

Kaić-Rak A., Pucarin-Cvetković J., Antonić Degač K., Laido Z. (2006): Dietary habits, attitudes and knowledge of the proper population diet in the Splitsko Dalmatinska County. Hrvatski časopis za javno zdravstvo, Vol. 2, Broj 6,

Lock K., Pomerleau J., Causer L. and McKee M. (2004): Low fruit and vegetable consumption. In: Comparative Quantification of Health Risks, Vol. I, pp. 597-728, WHO, Geneva.

8Maksimović B. (2009): Market of Apple in the worlds and Republic of Serbia. Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade.

Ognjanov G., Stojanović Ž., Filipović J. (2010): Qualitative Research of Motives, Barriers and Stereotypes in Fruit Consumption in Serbia. Marketing, Vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 141-150.

Pomerleau J., Lock K., Knai C., McKee M. (2005): Effectiveness of interventions and programmes promoting fruit and vegetable intake. Background paper for the Joint FAO/WHO Workshop on Fruit and Vegetables for Health, Kobe, Japan.

Štrbac M. (2007): Comparative analysis of agricultural food products consumption. Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade.

Vlahović B., Tomić D., Radojević V., Raljić D. (2005): Fruit consumption changes in Serbia and Montenegro. Institute of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 47-56.

World Health Organization (2003): WHO Fruit and Vegetable Promotion Initiative – Report of the Meeting. Geneva, Switzerlan