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Article
Publication date: 30 April 2018

Ana Cristina Ferrão, Raquel P.F. Guiné, Paula Correia, Manuela Ferreira, Ana Paula Cardoso, João Duarte and João Lima

A healthy diet has been recognized as one of the most important factors associated with maintaining human health and helping in preventing the development of some chronic…

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Abstract

Purpose

A healthy diet has been recognized as one of the most important factors associated with maintaining human health and helping in preventing the development of some chronic diseases. Therefore, this paper aims to study the perceptions of a sample of university people regarding a healthy diet.

Design/methodology/approach

It was undertaken a descriptive cross-sectional study on a non-probabilistic sample of 382 participants. The data were collected among a sample of Portuguese university people and measured whether people’s perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet.

Findings

The results revealed that the participants’ perceptions were, in general, compliant with a healthy diet (scores between 0.5 and 1.5, on a scale from −2 to +2). However, significant differences were found between age groups (p = 0.004), with a higher average score for young adults, and also between groups with different levels of education (p = 0.025), with a higher score for university degree. The variable chronic diseases also showed significant differences (p = 0.017), so that people who did not have any chronic diseases obtained a higher score.

Originality/value

This study is considered important because it provides evidences about the relation between nutrition knowledge and the perceptions towards a healthy diet. The study allowed concluding that the participants were aware about some nutritional aspects of their diets and, therefore, their perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet. This finding is very relevant because it could be a support for health policy initiatives directed at promoting healthy eating behaviours.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 48 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

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Article
Publication date: 11 September 2017

Raquel Guiné, João Duarte, Manuela Ferreira, Paula Correia, Marcela Leal, Ivana Rumbak, Irena Baric, Drazenka Komes, Zvonimir Satalic, Marijana Matek Saric, Monica Tarcea, Zita Fazakas, Dijana Jovanoska, Dragoljub Vanevski, Elena Vittadini, Nicoletta Pellegrini, Viktória Szucs, Júlia Harangozó, Ayman EL-Kenawy, Omnia EL-Shenawy, Erkan Yalçin, Cem Kösemeci, Dace Klava and Evita Straumite

Because dietary fibre has been recognized as a major ally to the maintenance of a healthy body as well as to help against the development of some chronic diseases, this paper aims…

567

Abstract

Purpose

Because dietary fibre has been recognized as a major ally to the maintenance of a healthy body as well as to help against the development of some chronic diseases, this paper aims to study the level of knowledge of a relatively wide range of people about the health effects related to the ingestion of dietary fibre in appropriate dosages.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6,010 participants. The data were collected from 10 countries in three different continents (Europe, Africa and America) and measured the level of knowledge regarding different health benefits from dietary fibre. The questionnaires were applied by direct interview after verbal informed consent.

Findings

The results obtained considering the general level of knowledge revealed a considerable degree of information about the benefits of fibre (average score of 3.54 ± 0.5, on a scale from 1 to 5). There were significant differences between genders (p < 0.001), with higher average score for women, and also for level of education (p < 0.001), with higher score for university level. The living environment also showed significant differences (p < 0.001), with people living in urban areas showing a higher degree of knowledge. Also for countries the differences were significant (p < 0.001), with the highest score obtained for Portugal (3.7), and the lowest for Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia and Romania (3.5). However, despite these differences, the results showed that for all the countries the degree of knowledge was good (above 3.5), corresponding to a minimum level of knowledge of 70 per cent.

Originality/value

This work is considered important due to the wide coverage, including so many countries inclusive with different social and cultural settings. The study allowed concluding that, in general, the participants in the study were quite well informed about the benefits of dietary fibre for the improvement of human health, regardless of gender, level of education, living environment or country. This finding is very relevant considering the diversity of people that composed the sample and reinforces the necessity of continuing with educational policies aimed at providing the general population with the knowledge that might help them make appropriate food choices.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 47 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

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Article
Publication date: 11 November 2019

Raquel Guiné, Ana Cristina Ferrão, Manuela Ferreira, Paula Correia, Ana Paula Cardoso, João Duarte, Ivana Rumbak, Abdel-Moneim Shehata, Elena Vittadini and Maria Papageorgiou

This study to investigate several issues related to food choice and consumption patterns in different countries, including health-related factors; economic and availability…

464

Abstract

Purpose

This study to investigate several issues related to food choice and consumption patterns in different countries, including health-related factors; economic and availability aspects; emotional determinants; social, cultural and religious influences; marketing and advertising campaigns; and finally environmental concerns.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study was based on a questionnaire that was exclusively prepared for the project, and which was applied to collect data in different countries, in particular Croatia, Egypt, Italy, Greece and Portugal, which are typically associated with the Mediterranean diet (MD).

Findings

The results obtained allowed, in general, to conclude that in all five countries the motivations related to health as well as environment and politics were the more relevant to determine people’s eating habits (scores varying from 0.3 to 0.7). Women were more influenced by eating motivations than men, and people with moderate exercise were more susceptible to health and environmental motivations and less to emotional, social or marketing motivations (p < 0.001 in all cases). It was also observed that people who adopted a special diet were more prone to eating motivations and that the emotional motivations were more pronounced in people with eating disorders (p < 0.001). Finally, people without chronic diseases or allergies were even more influenced by health motivations than those who actually suffered from these health problems (p < 0.001 in both cases).

Originality/value

This work is important because of the multinational coverage, thus allowing to evaluate the most relevant factors that influenced the food choices of the populations around the Mediterranean Sea, sharing the common link to the MD. The study allowed concluding that, in general, the food choices were primarily determined by health factors and also by concerns related to the environment and sustainability as well as by political influences.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. 49 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

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Article
Publication date: 21 October 2013

Manuela Ferreira, Margarida Liz Martins and Ada Rocha

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate waste at a Portuguese university setting in order to suggest improvements on foodservice sustainability.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate waste at a Portuguese university setting in order to suggest improvements on foodservice sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The work was developed during four weeks in order to allow the evaluation of parameters of an entire menu cycle. The index of waste/consumption (%) was obtained by the ratio between plate waste and the quantity of foods distributed, subtracting the weight of leftovers.

Findings

The average index of waste/consumption was approximately 24 percent, higher in the days with a fish menu, values considered unacceptable. Each canteen user is served with approximately 940 g of foods, from which only 660 g were effectively consumed, corresponding to 80 g of leftovers and 200 g of waste.

Originality/value

It seems possible and desirable to reduce food waste in order to optimize food unit profitability and sustainability. Reducing food waste will contribute to improve foodservice quality as well as consumer's satisfaction. Potential strategies to achieve this goal may include previous booking of meals, to adopt tray less during lunch and additionally analyze the eating patterns for a particular forecasted meal, and then prepare and serve food based on the appropriate forecast.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 115 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 19 April 2013

Silvio Moreira, David S. Batista, Paula Carvalho, Francisco M. Couto and Mario J. Silva

POWER is an ontology of political processes and entities. It is designed for tracking politicians, political organizations and elections, both in mainstream and social media. The…

802

Abstract

Purpose

POWER is an ontology of political processes and entities. It is designed for tracking politicians, political organizations and elections, both in mainstream and social media. The aim of this paper is to propose a data model to describe political agents and their relations over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a data model to describe political agents (politicans, political instutions and political associations) and their relations over time. The model is formalized as an ontology using the RDF format and the population is performed in two steps. First, a bootstrap process loads data collected from authoritative sources. Then, the ontology is enriched with alternative media names extracted from the web.

Findings

The ontology is published as a public resource following the guidelines of linked data and semantic web standards can be accessed via SPARQL endpoint.

Originality/value

The authors have developed an ontology for the political domain tailored to aid in the tasks of named entity recognition and resolution. It represents the complexity and dynamic nature of relations between political agents (politicians, political associations and political institutions) over time.

Details

Program, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0033-0337

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 May 2020

Manuela Gonçalves Barros, Marcelo Botelho da Costa Moraes, Alexandre Pereira Salgado Junior and Marco Antonio Alves de Souza Junior

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency in financial intermediation and the cost efficiency in banking service of credit unions in Brazil, based on essentially…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency in financial intermediation and the cost efficiency in banking service of credit unions in Brazil, based on essentially accounting variables, and to analyze the temporal evolution of the efficiency of these cooperatives.

Design/methodology/approach

With a sample of 315 cooperatives over the period from 2007 to 2014, this research uses a two-stage process: application of regression models with panel data to verify which variables are related to the defined outputs, with the reduction of 31 variables to 8 variables in both models; and application of the data envelopment analysis method to obtain an analysis of credit unions’ efficiency.

Findings

The results demonstrate a high level of efficiency in financial intermediation, with low variation over time, associated with a low efficiency in the banking service, in which few cooperatives have remained efficient over time. In addition, the cooperatives with highest efficiency in financial intermediation were also the most efficient in providing services.

Research limitations/implications

This research has some limitations about the capacity of the proxies used to capture the real effect of the variables and assumptions of economic relations resulting in restrictions to generalize the results.

Practical implications

Cooperatives are usually analyzed under just one dimension. By separating the analysis into financial intermediation and banking services, cooperatives that are more efficient in each dimension can be identified, in addition to analyzing the evolution over time. The authors found that efficiency tends to be lower in banking services, and few cooperatives remain at the highest level of efficiency over time in both models.

Social implications

Credit unions provide an important service in the banking and credit market. Therefore, understanding its operation and the characteristics that influence its efficiency allows a better management of the cooperatives themselves and a greater understanding of this important segment of the financial market.

Details

RAUSP Management Journal, vol. 55 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2531-0488

Keywords

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 4 March 2024

Free Access. Free Access

Abstract

Details

Managing Destinations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-176-3

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Article
Publication date: 13 June 2024

Diana Pacheco-Ortiz, Manuela Escobar-Sierra and Ana-María Suárez-Monsalve

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is going through a critical period that challenges its capacity to respond to social and environmental crises, which could be associated with…

322

Abstract

Purpose

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is going through a critical period that challenges its capacity to respond to social and environmental crises, which could be associated with the growing Corporate Hypocrisy (CH) phenomenon. This study aims to identify the theoretical perspectives of the scientific literature on CH as a contemporary phenomenon concerning CSR.

Design/methodology/approach

We adopted a sequential mixed-method approach in this study. First, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of the publications on the Web of Science database. Subsequently, we performed a content analysis of CH with CSR.

Findings

The literature review revealed two main research paths: the first deals with the perceptions of hypocrisy; the second relates to the company’s responsibility for disclosure. In addition, we found that researchers use different expressions to refer to the gap between discourse and action in organisations. Some authors suggest subtle differences between these terms, while others use them interchangeably. The causes of this phenomenon vary according to the facets of hypocrisy and the negative implications for the reputation and credibility of companies.

Originality/value

This study contributes to understanding the dissociation between CSR statements and practices. To this end, it combines and collates the literature on a phenomenon studied from different sides using numerous designations.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 20 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

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Publication date: 4 March 2024

Ana Isabel Moniz, Teresa Medeiros, Osvaldo Silva and José Mendes

Senior travelers are an attractive market segment and increasingly participate in an internet-mediated society. This chapter examines the profile of senior tourists who booked…

Abstract

Senior travelers are an attractive market segment and increasingly participate in an internet-mediated society. This chapter examines the profile of senior tourists who booked their trip to the Azores using online travel agencies. The purpose is to analyze their motivation factors based on the travel motivation scale for senior tourists, using 17 items related to the motivations for visiting the destination, and to ascertain whether there are different groups of senior tourists based on sociodemographic characteristics, travel motivations, and experiences performed. Using a structured questionnaire and a sample of senior tourists, three distinct clusters are obtained.

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Article
Publication date: 30 March 2012

Maria Manuela Natário, João Pedro Almeida Couto and Carlos Fernandes Roque de Almeida

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of the triple helix model in less favoured regions, examining the role of three spheres: universities, firms, and government…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of the triple helix model in less favoured regions, examining the role of three spheres: universities, firms, and government. The paper identifies profiles of behavior in terms of triple helix model performance from the firm's perspective and recognizes key factors for successful innovation dynamics in a less favored region of Portugal.

Design/methodology/approach

A brief bibliographic revision regarding development of the triple helix model in the innovation process is followed by a description of the role of the helixes and the presentation of a model, after which the hypotheses are defined for testing. The methodology consists of a survey involving companies in a less favored region of Portugal and the application of multivariate statistical analysis “k‐means clusters” to detect behavioral patterns in terms of performance and dynamics of the triple helix model from the firm's viewpoint. In order to verify the hypotheses, tests of multiple average differences are used to assess the unique characteristics of each cluster and the independent test of Chi‐square.

Findings

The results point to the existence of a positive relationship between the dynamics of the triple helix model in terms of different types and objectives to innovate, namely, in regards to introducing new products as well as ecological innovation and their efforts to improve communications relative to the obstacles to innovate – explicitly, the lack of information and geographical location, the companies' innovation performance, and the level of cooperation and interaction with the university producing benefits for them in obtaining additional financial resources and prestige for the researcher, as well as by obtaining information for the education process.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to a greater theoretical understanding of the variables influencing implementation of the triple helix model in less favoured regions. It reveals conditions associated with a more active and proactive stance and consequently better innovation dynamics and regional attractiveness.

Details

Journal of Knowledge-based Innovation in China, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-1418

Keywords

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