Attitudes, knowledge and food practices regarding calcium and osteoporosis

Includes bibliographical references (pages 90-104)Osteoporosis has been linked to a low intake of calcium. The purpose of this study was to determine how much women know about calcium and osteoporosis; what effect this knowledge has on their attitudes toward calcium and osteoporosis; and how their knowledge and attitudes influence their food choices. A four-part questionnaire was distributed to 27 female high school students with a mean age of 16 years and to 28 women with a mean age of 37 years. There was a positive correlation between the nutrition knowledge scores and the nutrition attitude scores for the women. The high school students' scores showed no correlation. There was no direct relationship between the nutrition knowledge scores and the calcium source score for either the women or the teenagers. There was no correlation between nutrition attitudes and food consumption for the women and a slight positive correlation for these scores among the high school students.M.S. (Master of Science