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Table 2 Overview of the categories on what is healthy eating

From: An exploration of perceptions and preferences for healthy eating in Dutch consumers: a qualitative pilot study

Major categories (n, %)

Categories

Examples

Frequencies (answers; %)a

Frequencies (pp; %)b

Dietary patterns (52, 12.5%)

Balanced

Varied; balanced

22 (5.3)

19 (24.4)

Amount

Right amount; moderated

21 (5.1)

19 (24.4)

Guidelines

Wheel of Five

5 (1.2)

5 (6.4)

Type of eater

Vegetarian; vegan

4 (1.0)

4 (5.1)

Food processing (79, 19.0%)

Organic/sustainable

Unprocessed; biological

42 (10.1)

31 (39.7)

Preparation of food

Healthy preparation; fresh; no pre-prepared food

37 (8.9)

27 (34.6)

Food product (148, 35.7%)

Vegetables

Vegetables; legumes

46 (11.1)

42 (53.9)

Fruit

Fruit

39 (9.4)

39 (50.0)

Meat

Not too much meat; chicken

15 (3.6)

14 (18.0)

Drinks

A lot of water; herb tea

13 (3.1)

11 (14.1)

Nuts

Nuts; seeds

12 (2.9)

8 (10.3)

(Specific) food products

Eggs; dairy

11 (2.7)

10 (12.8)

Fish

Fish

7 (1.7)

7 (9.0)

Grain products

Bread; grains

5 (1.2)

5 (6.4)

Content/nutrient (116, 28.0%)

Carbohydrates

Fast carbs; no sugar

32 (7.7)

18 (35.9)

Fat

Good fats; low in fat

27 (6.5)

25 (32.1)

Fibers

Rich of fibers

15 (3.6)

15 (19.2)

Salt

Little salt

14 (3.4)

14 (18.0)

Vitamins/minerals

Vitamins

10 (2.4)

10 (12.8)

Nutrient

Nutrients; nutritional value

7 (1.7)

7 (9.0)

Protein

Proteins

7 (1.7)

7 (9.0)

Calories

Few calories

4 (1.0)

4 (5.1)

Non-food (20, 4.8%)

Lifestyle

Exercising

10 (2.4)

10 (12.8)

Others

Development in the food industry

8 (1.9)

8 (10.3)

Hype/claims

Do not follow hypes

2 (0.5)

2 (2.6)

  1. Owing to rounding, percentages do not always add up to 100%
  2. aIn this column, it can be found how often this category was mentioned in all answers (n = 415)
  3. bIn this column, it can be found by how many participants a particular category was mentioned (n = 78)