Social representations of dietary practices and their determinants in a Moroccan community

Abstract

Food is a multidimensional science that has appeal among other social representations of food practices. The aim of this study was to characterize and identify the determinants of eating practices according to the social representations of a population in the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (RSK) region of Morocco. Data concerning socio-demographic characteristics were collected using a questionnaire. The social representations of dietary practices were obtained by characterizing nine food practices. The main results showed that the majority of the study population (67%) was 34 to 71 years old and female (76%). The most characteristic factor of good dietary practices as chosen by the majority of the population was palatability while the factors chosen as the least characteristic were cooking styles, traditional preparations and the use of spices and aromatic plants. Among the studied factors, age, gender, higher level of education, professional occupation, "married" marital status, and involvement in purchasing and food preparation within the household are the determinants of certain representations.

Keywords

• Social representations
• dietary practices
• characterization
• central elements
• contrasting elements
• questionnaire