DIETARY HABITS OF DIFFERENT CONSUMER CATEGORIES REGARDING THE CONSUMPTION OF FUNCTIONAL FOOD

The aim of this paper is to study consumer dietary habits regarding the consumption of functional foods, with a particular focus on functional dairy products as one of the elements of sustainable development. Functional foods, enriched with additional nutritional components (probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins), positively influence human health and well-being, the preservation and stability of biodiversity, climate change, and environmental protection. The research was conducted on 373 respondents who varied by gender, age, and educational level. They answered an anonymous questionnaire consisting of 48 questions regarding the demographic characteristics of the respondent, the frequency, and habits of consuming functional dairy products. The questionnaire was created using Google Forms and distributed electronically. For statistical processing and analysis of the data, tools from Microsoft Office Excel and SPSS 21 statistical software were used.According to the results, women prefer functional food more frequently than men (4.5 vs. 4.1 points). By age: the category of individuals aged 14-18 years are the most frequent consumers of functional food (4.7 points); those aged 19-34 years consume it the least (4.11 points), while among individuals aged 35-50 years and over 51 years, no significant differences were observed, with an average of 4.2 points (on a scale of 1-6). Regarding education level, respondents with higher education consume functional food more than those with secondary education (4.36 vs. 4 points).From the results obtained, it can be concluded that dietary habits and the consumption of functional foods differ among various categories of respondents, depending on their demographic characteristics, but an upward trend in the consumption of functional dairy products is expected with the application of ecological and economically sustainable practices.