The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe
Background: Food neophobia is defined as the fear of trying new foods. Food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are changing requiring a shift back to promoting the consumption of traditional or underutilized food species “novel foods”. Unfortunately, neophobia is a key barrier to their adoption in most s...
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Applied Food Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225001507 |
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| author | ST Dzvukamanja P Chopera TM Matsungo |
| author_facet | ST Dzvukamanja P Chopera TM Matsungo |
| author_sort | ST Dzvukamanja |
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| description | Background: Food neophobia is defined as the fear of trying new foods. Food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are changing requiring a shift back to promoting the consumption of traditional or underutilized food species “novel foods”. Unfortunately, neophobia is a key barrier to their adoption in most settings. Objectives: This study aimed to (1) investigate the prevalence of food neophobia and the willingness to consume edible insects and insect-based food (2) to explore the determinants of food neophobia and willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted via the Google Forms platform from April to November 2023 targeted at adolescents (10–19 years) and young adults (20–25 years). The survey comprised a demographic section followed by a standard Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) questionnaire and a standard willingness to eat questionnaire. Results: The sample size was 537 participants with the majority being females (63 %). A greater proportion of the respondents had attained tertiary education (64.8 %). The prevalence of neophobia was 14.4 % while the prevalence for willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods was 39.5 %. The Pearson's chi-squared test results showed some association between neophobia and religion (p = 0.021) with those of the Apostolic sect being more likely to be neophobic. However, binary logistic regression results showed no significant associations between food neophobia and socio-economic and demographic variables (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The study population had low neophobia, implying that they are receptive to novel foods. The willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods was fair implying the age group is entomophagous. Further studies at national level and/or longitudinal studies are required to explore the predictors of neophobia and willingness to consume insects and insect-based food including comparing the rural and urban differences in this age group. This will be useful information to food manufacturers, programme managers and policy makers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-269010bf7e694f2ab6a581a4e358d032 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2772-5022 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Food Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-269010bf7e694f2ab6a581a4e358d0322025-08-20T03:45:15ZengElsevierApplied Food Research2772-50222025-06-015110084010.1016/j.afres.2025.100840The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in ZimbabweST Dzvukamanja0P Chopera1TM Matsungo2Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP 167, Harare, ZimbabweDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP 167, Harare, ZimbabweCorresponding author.; Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP 167, Harare, ZimbabweBackground: Food neophobia is defined as the fear of trying new foods. Food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are changing requiring a shift back to promoting the consumption of traditional or underutilized food species “novel foods”. Unfortunately, neophobia is a key barrier to their adoption in most settings. Objectives: This study aimed to (1) investigate the prevalence of food neophobia and the willingness to consume edible insects and insect-based food (2) to explore the determinants of food neophobia and willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted via the Google Forms platform from April to November 2023 targeted at adolescents (10–19 years) and young adults (20–25 years). The survey comprised a demographic section followed by a standard Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) questionnaire and a standard willingness to eat questionnaire. Results: The sample size was 537 participants with the majority being females (63 %). A greater proportion of the respondents had attained tertiary education (64.8 %). The prevalence of neophobia was 14.4 % while the prevalence for willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods was 39.5 %. The Pearson's chi-squared test results showed some association between neophobia and religion (p = 0.021) with those of the Apostolic sect being more likely to be neophobic. However, binary logistic regression results showed no significant associations between food neophobia and socio-economic and demographic variables (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The study population had low neophobia, implying that they are receptive to novel foods. The willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods was fair implying the age group is entomophagous. Further studies at national level and/or longitudinal studies are required to explore the predictors of neophobia and willingness to consume insects and insect-based food including comparing the rural and urban differences in this age group. This will be useful information to food manufacturers, programme managers and policy makers.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225001507NeophobiaNovel foodAdolescentsZimbabwe |
| spellingShingle | ST Dzvukamanja P Chopera TM Matsungo The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe Applied Food Research Neophobia Novel food Adolescents Zimbabwe |
| title | The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe |
| title_full | The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe |
| title_fullStr | The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe |
| title_full_unstemmed | The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe |
| title_short | The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe |
| title_sort | prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in zimbabwe |
| topic | Neophobia Novel food Adolescents Zimbabwe |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225001507 |
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