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Most Care About Healthy
Eating, Some Still Ignore
Excerpt
By Alison McCook, Reuter's Health
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters
Health) - Most are generally aware of
the importance of healthy eating, but about one third of the population
remains unconcerned about their own dietary habits, according
to new survey results.
Overall, the findings from the new
American Dietetic Association (ADA) survey of Americans' beliefs
about nutrition show that some nutritional information is reaching
the public, but not all of it, and not everybody is listening,
a panel of experts said here on Sunday.
Most Americans surveyed said they
are "very concerned" about the growing problem of obesity, and
85% said they felt that good eating habits are "important to them
personally."
However, most Americans also believe
the recommended serving size of food to be bigger than it actually
is--more than half overestimated the serving sizes of cooked vegetables,
pasta, rice, meat, poultry and fish.
Several misconceptions also appear
to remain fixed in people's minds. For instance, 63% of survey
respondents said that they believe a person's body weight indicates
how healthy their diet is. However, Dr. Christine A. Rosenbloom
of Georgia State University in Atlanta explained that body weight
is only one of many factors that are influenced by a person's
diet, and people who eat the same healthy foods can weigh differently.
Another 33% said they believe all herbal supplements are safe
because they are "natural."
"Some myths die hard," Rosenbloom
noted.
In terms of health information, a
growing number of consumers appear to be turning to television
for their health news. TV was rated as the number one source of
nutrition information by a wide margin, up almost 25% from 2000.
It was followed by magazines, newspapers, and radio.
The survey was based on telephone
interviews of 700 adults during April 2002. The interview consisted
of about two dozen questions aimed at pinpointing US adults' attitudes
and beliefs about healthy eating. The panel of experts presented
the findings here on Sunday at the annual meeting of the ADA,
a professional organization representing the nation's licensed
nutritionists and dietitians.
The results identified a number of
areas that need improvement. Dr. Gail C. Frank of California State
University in Long Beach and the University of California in Irvine
told Reuters Health that she is most concerned about the "hard-core
resistant group"--the 32% of respondents who choose not to heed
healthy eating recommendations. Despite the amount of nutrition
information available, she said, this group appears persistent;
the same percentage of respondents answered similarly in a 2000
survey.
On a hopeful note, Dr. Keith-Thomas
Ayoob of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York said
that more people than ever before say they are incorporating nutrition
recommendations into their diets, up by 10% from two years ago.
This increase was accompanied by a 10% decrease in the number
of people who said they know what healthy eating is, but choose
not to practice it. "It seems like these people are moving into
the 'I'm already doing it"' category, he said.
Frank added that it was good to see
that 64% of respondents said they had heard a great deal about
the current obesity epidemic, and a similar proportion said they
were very concerned. Overall awareness and concern are the first
steps in tackling the problem, Frank said. Given that around 60%
of Americans are either overweight or obese, "many of them are
likely living the epidemic," she noted.
Reference
Source 89
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