Commonly held notions about nutrition among High School students

Includes bibliographical references (pages 78-84)It has been shown that large segments of the\ud American population are malnourished and that in particular,\ud teenaged girls have the poorest eating habits of\ud any group studied. It has also been demonstrated that\ud nutrition attitudes are a better index of eating behavior\ud than nutrition knowledge alone. The purpose of this study\ud was to examine some common nutrition attitudes among high\ud school students to determine in which areas nutrition education\ud should concentrate.\ud A questionnaire was distributed to 275 high\ud school students at a representative high school within\ud greater Los Angeles.\ud The findings of the study indicate that teenaged\ud girls have a lower knowledge of nutrition than boys as\ud well as poorer eating habits. The susceptibility to\ud nutrition myths is greater in girls as is the likelihood\ud of eliminating certain food groups while dieting. High\ud school students, like the general public, make little\ud use of nutrition labeling. Although the majority of students\ud think that food additives are hazardous, very few\ud show significant emotional concern about their consumption.\ud In general, students' attitudes and knowledge show\ud great inconsistencies, which points to the need for a\ud better understanding of psychological motivation in eating\ud behavior