Personaliserad nutrition och etik : en empirisk studie av svenska konsumenters inställning till gentester för hälsans skull

Abstract
In this thesis I address some of the ethical issues that arise in relation to consumers and personalised dietary advice made on the basis of genetic information. By carrying out two empirical studies, I wanted to find out what Swedish consumers think about personalised nutrition, and how they reason regarding risks, possible value conflicts, and benefits that may arise from implementing the concept.
The results of the empirical studies showed that implementation of personalised nutrition was perceived as involving both benefits and a variety of risks and difficulties, which raises a range of issues, including ethical ones. A majority of the respondents and informants nonetheless had a positive attitude towards personalised nutrition and would also be willing to undergo genetic testing for personalised dietary advice. The perceived risks did not appear to have an important impact on the willingness to undergo testing, as these risks were often seen as manageable.
The results suggest that respondents and informants were motivated predominantly by the value they placed on good health. Furthermore, the informants’ understanding of health included not only the health of the physical body, but also psychological well-being and quality of life. This understanding of the concept of health is thus largely congruent with that of subjective theories of health, which have been criticised for overemphasising individuals’ responsibility for their own health and for contributing to a wider medicalisation of everyday life.