Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of Egyptians
IntroductionPlastic is extensively used in everyday life, particularly for food and beverage containers. The inappropriate use of these containers may lead to the leaching of various chemicals from plastic, such as bisphenol A, phthalate, and styrene, which cause numerous adverse health effects. Thi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1146800/full |
| _version_ | 1797671365476614144 |
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| author | Fatma Mohamed Hassan Eman D. El Desouky Marwa Rashad Salem Motaze Adel Abdelsabour Mostafa Alaa Abdelmoneim Mohamed Mahmoud Elsaieed Mona Mohamed Ali Mona Mohamed Ali |
| author_facet | Fatma Mohamed Hassan Eman D. El Desouky Marwa Rashad Salem Motaze Adel Abdelsabour Mostafa Alaa Abdelmoneim Mohamed Mahmoud Elsaieed Mona Mohamed Ali Mona Mohamed Ali |
| author_sort | Fatma Mohamed Hassan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionPlastic is extensively used in everyday life, particularly for food and beverage containers. The inappropriate use of these containers may lead to the leaching of various chemicals from plastic, such as bisphenol A, phthalate, and styrene, which cause numerous adverse health effects. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward using plastic for food and drinks among a sample of the Egyptian population.Materials and methodsA questionnaire was designed based on scientific literature to assess sociodemographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward the use of plastic for food and drinks. A total of 639 participants were recruited by employing the convenience sampling technique.ResultsMore than half of the participants (347, 54%) had poor knowledge scores. Personal experiences, social media, and web pages represented the most common knowledge sources. A comparison between plastic-related knowledge scores and the studied sociodemographic characteristics revealed statistically significant differences in age, gender, education, marital status, residence, working, and socioeconomic standard. A good attitude was reported by the majority (515, 80.6%) of participants. The majority (493, 77.2%) were occasional and frequent plastic users and the practice scores were significantly associated with age, education, residence, and socioeconomic standard. Higher educational level, gender (women), and rural residence were predictors of good participants knowledge, while lower socioeconomic status and urban residence were predictors of bad participants practice in a multivariate logistic regression analysis.ConclusionThe observed unsatisfactory knowledge and practice scores vs. the high attitude indicates a knowledge gap that can help direct future improvements. We call for public awareness programs about safe plastic use and the related health hazards of plastic chemicals. We also stress upon the urgent need for a collaboration between health authorities and the plastic and food industry to guarantee that information about proper plastic use is conveyed to consumers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:14:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e983038b0b574d98a4826df3d25cdccc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:14:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-e983038b0b574d98a4826df3d25cdccc2023-09-29T06:20:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-09-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.11468001146800Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of EgyptiansFatma Mohamed Hassan0Eman D. El Desouky1Marwa Rashad Salem2Motaze Adel Abdelsabour3Mostafa Alaa Abdelmoneim4Mohamed Mahmoud Elsaieed5Mona Mohamed Ali6Mona Mohamed Ali7Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptEpidemiology and Biostatistics, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptPublic Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptKasr Alainy Medical School, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptKasr Alainy Medical School, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptKasr Alainy Medical School, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptForensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptForensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi ArabiaIntroductionPlastic is extensively used in everyday life, particularly for food and beverage containers. The inappropriate use of these containers may lead to the leaching of various chemicals from plastic, such as bisphenol A, phthalate, and styrene, which cause numerous adverse health effects. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward using plastic for food and drinks among a sample of the Egyptian population.Materials and methodsA questionnaire was designed based on scientific literature to assess sociodemographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward the use of plastic for food and drinks. A total of 639 participants were recruited by employing the convenience sampling technique.ResultsMore than half of the participants (347, 54%) had poor knowledge scores. Personal experiences, social media, and web pages represented the most common knowledge sources. A comparison between plastic-related knowledge scores and the studied sociodemographic characteristics revealed statistically significant differences in age, gender, education, marital status, residence, working, and socioeconomic standard. A good attitude was reported by the majority (515, 80.6%) of participants. The majority (493, 77.2%) were occasional and frequent plastic users and the practice scores were significantly associated with age, education, residence, and socioeconomic standard. Higher educational level, gender (women), and rural residence were predictors of good participants knowledge, while lower socioeconomic status and urban residence were predictors of bad participants practice in a multivariate logistic regression analysis.ConclusionThe observed unsatisfactory knowledge and practice scores vs. the high attitude indicates a knowledge gap that can help direct future improvements. We call for public awareness programs about safe plastic use and the related health hazards of plastic chemicals. We also stress upon the urgent need for a collaboration between health authorities and the plastic and food industry to guarantee that information about proper plastic use is conveyed to consumers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1146800/fullplastic containersknowledgeattitudepracticesurveyEgypt |
| spellingShingle | Fatma Mohamed Hassan Eman D. El Desouky Marwa Rashad Salem Motaze Adel Abdelsabour Mostafa Alaa Abdelmoneim Mohamed Mahmoud Elsaieed Mona Mohamed Ali Mona Mohamed Ali Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of Egyptians Frontiers in Public Health plastic containers knowledge attitude practice survey Egypt |
| title | Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of Egyptians |
| title_full | Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of Egyptians |
| title_fullStr | Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of Egyptians |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of Egyptians |
| title_short | Plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among a sample of Egyptians |
| title_sort | plastic use for food and drinks and related knowledge attitudes and practices among a sample of egyptians |
| topic | plastic containers knowledge attitude practice survey Egypt |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1146800/full |
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