It is clear that parents have the most encouraging and formative influence on young people's fish consumption, and those who have become accustomed to eating fish as children continue to do so later in life. It turned out that education and knowledge clearly increased fish consumption among young people.
Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir at Matís graduated with an MS degree in food science from the University of Iceland in October 2008. Her main task was to gather information about young people's fish consumption and their attitudes towards fish and the project was carried out within the AVS project: Young people's attitudes and fish consumption: Improved image seafood.
The purpose was to find ways that could contribute to a better image of seafood among young people and increase their consumption of these products in accordance with nutritional recommendations and thus possibly affect themselves and the next generation
The main results of the project were that young people between the ages of 17 and 26 ate fish as a main course 1.3 times a week, which is under the Public Health Institute's recommendations that fish should be eaten twice a week or more. Parents have the most encouraging and formative influence on young people's fish consumption. Eating fish as a child greatly affects young people's attitudes towards fish consumption later on. It can also be seen from the results that the part of these people who left home ate the least fish.
Insecurity regarding the handling of fish such as cooking it is a discouraging factor in fish consumption. Interventions that included increased access to fish through school canteens, open educational lectures and web promotion resulted in better knowledge of the fish and fish oil consumption increased by almost half and more for girls than boys. Those who did not have fish before the intervention liked it better after the intervention.
With regard to this development in declining fish consumption, it is important to counteract it as soon as possible by increasing knowledge of the importance of fish consumption for health reasons as well as teaching young people how to cook fish. The family is a strong influence on fish consumption, so it is important that parents also take an active part in educating and introducing the fish to their children. If fish products are to be marketed for this age group or their fish consumption increased, it should be borne in mind that it is important for young people that the fish meal takes into account their requirements. The results showed that the young people have different tastes and opinions and can be divided into several different groups both according to their taste for fish dishes and attitudes to health and hygiene.
The study as a whole showed that fish consumption is below standards and knowledge of fish is not good. Efforts are needed to get young people to eat more fish and educate them about the importance of fish for health. The study also showed that education benefits young people and had a greater effect on those who were less for fish. Icelanders have lived in the fishing industry for centuries and knowledge of fishing and fish processing is among the best in the world. Knowledge of fish consumption and what determines fish consumption should be a key factor in the marketing of seafood.
If Icelanders' consumption of their main production is declining, it can damage the image of exported seafood from Iceland. Looking to the future, it is clear that concerted action, based on in-depth consumer research, targeted education on both health and cooking of seafood, as well as an increased supply of diverse fish dishes, can be important factors in reversing consumption trends in recent years and contributing to increased fish consumption. and improved public health of the nation. With this study, a large database has been established, which is a prerequisite for continuing to study the attitudes and fish consumption of Icelanders.
You can access Gunnþórunn's dissertation here: Attitudes and fish consumption of young people