Dietary beliefs, practices and attitudes of adults in an inner city population

Abstract

Dietary data from a representative sample of 1396 adults (603 males, 793 females) aged 18 years and over in the inner London district of Bloomsbury and Islington were analysed using five sets of questions from the 1990 Bloomsbury and Islington Health and Lifestyle Survey. Six qualitative dietary indicators were developed from two sets of food frequency questions to give score ratings for intakes of saturated fat, positive healthy choices for fat, high fibre starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, sugar, and an index of healthy dietary practice. These indicators along with the data from the remaining three sets of questions were analysed to examine the dietary beliefs, attitudes and practices of different age and sex groups in the study population. About one-third of men and a fifth of women over 18 years old had poor dietary practice, while a fifth of men and two-fifths of women had good dietary practice. Younger (age 18–29) and older (age 60 +) groups had poorer dietary practice than adults of middle age. The younger adults with poor dietary practice were more likely to want to change to a healthy diet than older people, whereas a higher proportion of older adults (men aged over 45, women over 60) than younger adults showed a low level of awareness of what a healthy diet comprises. For health promotion intervention, all men, especially those aged 18–29 and over 45 years and women aged 18–29 and over 60 years need to be targeted for some change in dietary practice. These groups and middle aged (30–44 years) men in particular may benefit from a change of belief or attitude towards diet. Limitations of the survey questionnaire, and thus the dietary indicators used for analysis are discussed, and suggestions for planning future survey work of this kind are made.