Attitudes Towards High-Fat Foods and Their Low-fat Alternatives: Reliability and Relationship with Fat Intake

Score on a scale of attitude towards the consumption of five high-fat foods and their low-fat alternatives was correlated with the energy percentage of fat in the diet across 419 subjects. Attitudes towards low-fat alternatives were more positive than towards high-fat food. Mean energy percentage of fat in the diet was 38·8% (SD 7·1). The attitude scale explained 25% of the variance in percentage energy as fat. Test-retest reliability of the attitude scale (n = 25) was 0·92 (95% confidence limits 0·82 and 0·97). The reproducibility of energy percentage fat in the diet (n = 33) was 0·64 (95% confidence limits 0·38 and 0·81). Differences in attitude score were found between men and women, subjects following a dietary treatment and those who did not, and subjects with a fat intake according to the Dutch dietary guidelines and those who had not (p < 0·001). Fat intake (expressed as percentage of energy intake) differed between age groups (p < 0·05), and between subjects following a special diet and those who did not (p < 0·001). No difference in attitude score or energy percentage of fat was found for education level, occupation level, body mass index or household size. It is concluded that attitudes toward high-fat foods and their low-fat alternatives are useful in understanding fat intake. Copyright 1994, 1999 Academic Press