Perception and buying behavior towards genetically modified foods, and the fluence factors of the college students in Hefei

Objective To provide empirical evidence and health education strategies by the investigation in genetically modified foods field of the college students' awareness,attitude and willingness in Hefei.Methods A total of 1 624 students of the average age of (22.5 ±2.2) were selected from 4 colleges in Hefei by stratified cluster sampling method,and a self-designed questionnaire was used to conduct a survey.And binary non-conditional Logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the relevant factors.Results The analysis indicated that the average score of awareness of transgenic technology was 6.1,but also showed their lack of systematization.The main sources of information were the Internet (76.05%),television (55.67%) and newspapers (35.47%),less information was from professional books(24.82%).Consumers' approval rating of genetically modified food was only 16.87%,the cognitive differences in age,the domicile location and household income had statistical significance(P<0.05).84.98% college students thought that genetically modified food needed eye-catching identifications.The level of income and acceptance level of transgenic technology significantly correlated with their purchasing intention(P<0.05).College students could not acquire the professional knowledge of genetically modified food from the channels,and the willingness to purchase genetically modified food was negatively correlated with family income.The safety(68.66%),nutritional value (47.78%) and price of genetically modified food (45.26%) were the main factors of influencing the purchase.Conclusion Under the current situation that the information of genetically modified food is asymmetry,we should pay more attention to the knowledge propaganda in a just way,to improve the proficiency of cognitive education,to strengthen its effects with new approaches,to promote compulsory identity recognition education.