1. Food intake and food-related attitudes of older women: Implications for nutrition education
- Author
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Marie T. Fanelli-Kuczmarski and Marilyn Medaugh-Abernethy
- Subjects
Food group ,Food intake ,Calorie ,business.industry ,Nutrition Education ,Environmental health ,digestive, oral, and skin physiology ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Food consumption ,food and beverages ,Medicine ,Semantic differential ,business - Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between food-related attitudes and food consumption in 36 older women during a four-day period. The subjects were white, 65 years or older, literate, lived independently, and perceived themselves as healthy. Attitudes toward food consumed were measured by the semantic differential technique. The participants scored 10 attitudes toward food consumed and also completed a food consumption record. Foods were categorized into one of seven food groups: milk; meat; eggs; grains; fruit; vegetables; sugars, sweets, and beverages. Among the questions this study attempted to answer were: Do older women consume foods because they are easy to prepare, are low in calories, and/or are economical? Food-related attitudes varied according to the food group and to the amount consumed. Spearman rank correlations showed significant relationships between certain attitudes and certain food groups consumed such as eat infrequently/frequently and unhealthful/healthful to eat with the milk and fruit groups. Stepwise multiple regressions found significant associations between certain attitudes such as dislike/love eating and eat infrequently/frequently and the milk and fruit groups. Nutrition educators may be able to use findings in this study to improve eating patterns based on food-related attitudes of the elderly.
- Published
- 1994
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