University of Tennessee, Knoxville

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Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School

12-1976

Food and Nutrition Misconceptions, Knowledge, Related Interests,

and Information Sources of Knoxville, Tennessee, High School
Students
Lois Ann Wodarski
University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss

Part of the Home Economics Commons

Recommended Citation
Wodarski, Lois Ann, "Food and Nutrition Misconceptions, Knowledge, Related Interests, and Information
Sources of Knoxville, Tennessee, High School Students. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1976.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3011

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To the Graduate Council:

I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Lois Ann Wodarski entitled "Food and
Nutrition Misconceptions, Knowledge, Related Interests, and Information Sources of Knoxville,
Tennessee, High School Students." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation
for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Human Ecology.

Mary Ann Bass, Major Professor

We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance:

Grayce E. Goertz, A. Paul Wishart, Jane Savage, Dean Champion

Accepted for the Council:

Carolyn R. Hodges

Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School

(Original signatures are on file with official student records.)

To the Graduate Council:

I am submitting herewith a dissertation w�itten by Lois Apn Wodarski

entitled "Food and Nutrition Misconceptions, Knowledge, Related Interests,
and Information Sources of Knoxville, Tennessee, High School Studen�s."
I recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Home Economics.

We have read this dissertation

and recommend its acceptance:

Accepted for the Council:

Vice Chancellor
Graduate Studies and Research
7hois
7Cob
, w"" �
eop· a.,
FOOD AND NUTRITION MISCONCEPTIONS; KNOWLED�E,. RELATED

INTERESTS, . AND INFORMATION SOURCES OF KNOXVILLE,

TENNESSEE, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

A Dis sertat ion

Pre s ented for the

Doctor of Philos ophy

Degre e

The Univers ity o� Tenne s s ee , Knoxville

Lois Ann Wodarski

December 1976
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is s � nc erely grateful to the following persons for .their

cooperati on and as s i stanc e in the org anization and implementation of the

re- s earch proj ec� and in the preparation of the manus cript :

Dr . Mary Ann Bass who not only share s_ her wealth of knowledge and

experienc e in the are a of s oc io-cultural food science but also instills

in each of her stud ent s a contagious enthusiasm and desire to learn from

others as well as to help other s learn .

Dr . A. Paul Wi shart whose experi ence proved invaluable in. the

organi zation of the study for its execution within the Knoxville city

school system and whose enthus iasm and interest in the study provided

muc h support .

Dr . Grayc e Goert z and Dr . Jane Savage who provid ed inspiration and

valuable suggestions regarding the planning of the research proj ect and

the preparat ion of the report .

Dr. Dean Champion who pati ently helped in organizing the statistical

aspects of the study and whose edit orial experi ence proved mo st helpful
in the revision of the manuscript .
Dr . Paul Kelley whose support of the study helped make its
reali zation possible .
The pr inc ipals, faculties, staff, and student s of the participating

Knoxville city high schools· whose c ooperati on in the collection of the

data wa s mo st e s s ential .

ii
 iii

John and Chris sie Wodarski .who se love , enc ouragement , and pat ience

c ould not · have been more necessary . nor mor e appreci ated.

Kitty Coffey and Jo Schar , my faithful liai sons and very spec ial

friend s who never faltered in their . support , reas surance, and good humor .
 ABSTRACT

Food and nutrition mi s c onc eptions, food and nutrition-related

intere sts, and information sourc es . of 185, tent h through twelfth grade

student s from a selected·sample of Knoxville, Tenne ss�e, high s chools

were studied . Relevant informat ion was obtained through . the development

and administration of a que st ionnaire des igned to distingui sh betwe en

level of food and nutrition knowledge and degree of subscription to mis ­

c onc ept ions, to. determine which topi c s wit �in the realm of food and

nutrition were of interest t o the t eenage populat ion, and to ascertain

s ources of informat ion for the various categories of food and nutrition

knowledg·e .

Students of both s exes and of · all grade levels wer e found to pos s e s s

a limited knowledge of . food and nutrition and to maintain a c onsiderabl e

subscription to mis c oncepti ons . The. mean mi sconc eption score for the

total population was 14.9 �·6.2 out of a pos sible score of 56. The
greatest proport ion of mi sconceptions were found in the areas of Foods

My Body Needs ( 33.5 perc ent mis conc eptions ) and Diet and Weight -Wat ch ing·
(32. 1 percent mis conceptions ) . Significant d �fference s ( � .05) in mis ­
concept ion score s wer e obs erved among the four schools but differences
between sexe s and acros s grade.1evels were not signific ant .
The mean knowledge score for the population wa s 17 . 0 + 6.2 out of a

vos s ible 56. Differenc es .were not ob served betwe en sexes nor among

grade levels . Knowledge s c ores were positively as s oc iated with degree of

training in chemi stry ( y = +0.37) and biology ( Y = +0.38) but ·were

iv
 v

not . significantly as soc iated with amount of tr aining in home economic s

or health .

. High intere st in a vari ety of food and nutrition-related t opic s was

observed among the teenage students . Girls , in general , found topic s

more interest ing than did boys but the differences were slight . High

intere st in topics under the categorie s of Foods My Body Needs and

Misc ellaneous was pos itively as s ociated with number of mi sconceptions in

tho s e areas ( y = +0. 34 and y = +0. 20, respectively ) .

· Information relating to food and nutrition was obt ained by the·

teenagers from a variety of s ources but most frequently ment ioned s ourc es

for all but one c ategory of information , i . e . , Organic and Health Foods ,

were parents and medical doctors or nurses . In formation s ourc es for

boys and girls and among grade levels were signific antly different for

s everal categories of information . Wi�h only one except ion , mi sconc ep­

tions in the various categories wer e not significantly as s ociated with

any particular information source .

 TABLE OF ·CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. REVIEW . OF THE LITERATURE • 4
The Adolescent . . . . . . . 4
.
. • •

Food and Nutrition-Related Interests Among Teenagers . 7 ·

Level of Nutrition Knowledge Among Teenagers . . . . • • 10

Food and Nutrition Misconceptions . . . • • • . • . 12
The Effect of Exposure· to Misinformation on Nutrition-
Related Behavior . . • . . • • • • . • 19
Sources of Information on Food and Nutrition • 20

'III. PROCEDURES • 24
Preliminary Study 24
SaJnple . . . . . . . .· . . . . . 25
Questionnaire Development . • . . 26
Food and nutrition knowledge and misconceptions 26
Food and nutrition-related interests • . . . . 27
Information sources • . • • • 28
Validity . . • • . . • . . . . 28
Implementation of Questionnaire . • • • 29
Analysis of Data 30
30
. • . • • • • .

Food and nutrition knowledge •

Food and nutrition misconceptions 30

Food and nutrition-related interests . 31
Information sources 32
Association between misconception score and
degree of interest . 32
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . • . 33

Food and Nutrition Misconceptions 33

Food and Nutrition Knowledge • . . 41
Food and Nutrition-Re'Iated Interests . . . • •
43
Food and·Nutrition Information Sources 49
. Association Between Misconception Score and
Information Source . . . . • • • • • • • • . 53
Association Betweep Misconception Score and Degree
of Interest • • • . . . • • • . . . . . • . . 54

vi·
CHAPTER PAGE

v. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS . . 56

Conclusions 56
Iinplications • 57

REFERENCES 61

APPENDICES 67

Appendix A 68
Appendix B 80

VITA 95
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

1. Misconception and Knowledge Scores fo� 185 Teenage

Students • • • • . • . . • • . . . • 34

2. Analysis of Variance for Misconception Scores of

185 Pupils in Four Schools • • . ·· • . . 35
3. Mean Number of Misconceptions by Category and Percent
of Students Misconceived on 33 Percent or More Items
in Each Category • • • • . • • . . • • . • . • • • . 36

4. Chi-Square Values Derived from Comparison of Number of High

and Low Misconception Scores in 7 Misconception Categories
Against Each other and Level of Significance for Each
Comparison • . . • • • . • . • . . • • . . . . • . . • . • 37

5. Degree of Association Between Food and Nutrition

Knowledge Scores and Number of Courses in Four
Subject Matter Areas • • • •. . . • . • . • • • 42

6. An Item Analysis of Food and Nutrition-Related Interest

.
Responses in Order of Preference for 185 lOth, 11th,
and 12th Grade Students . • . . • • • . . . . . . • 44

7. Mean Responses of Boys and Girls to 28 Food and

Nutrition-Related Interest Topics . . . • . . . 47

.
8. Fi rst, Second and Third Most Frequently Indicated First­
Choice· Information Sources of 185 teenagers for 8 Cate­
.
gories· o·f Food and Nutritio� Information . . • • 50

Compari son by Sex and Grade of First Choice Informat ion

Sources for 8 Categories of Food and Nutrition
Information • . . • • • • •. . • • • • . . 52

10 . Degree of Association Between Misconception Score and

Degree of .Interest by Category • • . • • • • . • 55

11. Percentage of Misconception (MC), Correct Answer, and

Guess Responses to 56-Item Food and Nutrition
Questionnaire • . • • • • • • • • . • • • • . 81

viii
 ix

TABLE PAGE
12 . First Choice Informat ion S ources by S ex and Grade
for the C at eg ory of Diet and Weight -Watching 87

13. First Choice Information Sources by S ex and Grade

for the Category of Organic and Health Foods 88

. 14. First Choice Informat ion Sources by Sex and Grade

for the Category of Veget ari an Diets . . . . .
.
89

. 15 . First Choice Informat ion Sources by Sex and Grade

for the C at egory of Diet in Relation to Di sease . . . . . . 90

16. First Choic e -Informat ion Source s by S ex and Grade

for the Cat egory of Foods My Body Needs . . . . . 91

17. First Choice Information Sources by S ex and Grade

for the C at egory of Food S afety . . . . . . . . . 92

18. First Choice Information Sources by S ex and Grade

for the Cat egory of Nutrition and Pregnancy . • • 93

19. First Choice Information Source s by S ex and Grade

for the Cat eg ory of Food Preparation 94
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The food habit s of teenagers are of c oncern to nutrition educat ors ,

teachers , school food service per s onnel , dietitians , physicians , and

parents ·(Erhard , 1971 ; Everson , 1960 ; McElroy and Taylor , 1966 ; Schorr

et al . , 1972 ; Wyman , 1972) . The tendency of the teenager to practice

limit�d j udgment in the s election of foods has been viewed as a primary

determinant of the poor nutritional status of a signifi cant number of thi s

age group (Carruth and Foree , 1971 ; . Evers on , 1960 ; McElroy and Taylor ,

1966 ; Schorr et al . , 1972 ; Spindler and Acker , 1963 ) . · studies wherein

nutrit ion knowledge of teenagers has been ascert ained have c ons istently
.. .

. shown a low level of knowledge among this age group ( Dwyer et al. , 1970 ;

Sliepc evich , 1964 ; Sutt on , 1962 ) . However , poor performance on measures

of nutrition knowledge does not s eem . t o be the re sult of low emphas i s on

nutrition education . On the c ontrary, low . nutrition knowledge s c ores

have be en 'found to occur in c onjunction with a strong emphas i s on nutri­

tion instruction (Dowell , 1966 ; Kirk et al . , ·1975 ) .

Teenagers in Tenne ssee als o have been found t o po s s e s s low levels of
nutrition knowledge in spite of the high emphas i s on nutrit ion education
in . the school systems . Emphas is on nutrit ion ranked fifth out of 25
health-related c ontent areas in the ·health educ ation curriculum of ninth

through twelfth grade public s chools in Tennes s ee acc ording to Hunt s inger

( 1971 ) . Likewise , Tennes see s chool per sonnel c onsi stently reported that

the area of nutrition received greater emphas is than others in the health

1
 2
education of elementary, junior high and senior high students in· a study

by Kirk et al. ( 1975) . However, when the n�trition knowledge of these

same students was measured on health behavior·inventories the students

scored well below national norms in the nutrition content area.

It seems plausible that the low correlation between emphasis on

food and nutrition-related topics and incr.eased nutrition knowledge of

this population may be due to, at least in part, two major factors, degree

of interest in food and nutrition-related topics and proliferation\of

misinformation on the topics, or to a combination of these factors.

Acpording to Dwyer et al. (1970 ) "wrong answers on nutrition tests

are often indicative of misinformation or wrong learning rather than a

total lack of knowledge because of the prevalence of unfounded beliefs

based on misinformation, folklore, tradition, and superstitious beliefs."

The·proliferation of misinformation regarding food and nutrition has been

viewed as a major barrier in safeguarding the health of the population in

the United States ( Erlich, 1970;. Henderson, 1974; New and Priest, 1967;

Rynearson, 1974; Sipple, 1964 ) as well as in other .countries ( Swedish

Nutr. Found., 1969 ) . Teenagers, as well as other age groups, may

jeopardize their own health and welfare as well as that of generations to

follow by adhering to invalid nutritional beliefs ( Dwyer et al., i9 70;

Harrison and Irwin, 1964) . Hence, recognition of the food and nutrition

·misconceptions a learner holds will help the nutrition educator plan

. meaningful learning experiences �o diminish these misconceptions and

thereby increase the probability of·more sound health practices.

 3
Interest in c ert ain food and nutr ition-related topic s provide s

incentive t o learn more about the topic , and furthermore . increases the

individual's exposure to communications regar ding it ( Dwyer et al . , 1970 ;

Lantagne , 195 2 ) . Cert ain t opic s are of interest to the te enager due to

their relevanc e t o the achievement of developmental tasks ( Weiner , 1971 ) .

Since relevance o f the topic determine s the individual ' s degre e of

intere st in the topic and intere st is generally cons idered conduc ive to

le arning , it should be determined which topic s within the realm of food

and · nutrition inspire interest in the teenager . Capitalizing on related

inter ests c an aid in the development of effective nutrit ion education

programs for the teenager as well as for other populations .

When interest in a topic incre ases the likelihood of exposure to

information on a topic and the information i s erroneous , nutr it ion educ a­

tion bec ome s increas ingly difficult . It should be determined , therefore ,

what the teenager ' s maj or informat ion sources are in order t o work

toward ut ilizing . these s ame s ourc es t o c ount er fallacies with fact s .

In this study ·it was hypothe sized that teenagers would subscribe to a

number of food and nutrition mi sconceptions , the greate st number of which

would be in those areas in which he had most interest . It was pos tulated
that certain food and nutrition-related topics were of mor e interest than
other s and that teenager s would obtain the ir informat ion regarding these
topic s from sourc es other than recognized expert s. Finally , it was believed

that the teenager ' s level of knowledge w9uld correlate with the ext ent of

his formal training in thi s ar ea .

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

I. THE ADOLESCENT

Adole s cenc e has been defined in physiologic al , sociologic al , and

behavioral terms . Thornburg ( 1970 ) refers to adole scence as a period

. during which the growing per s on make s the trans ition from childhood to
adulthood . It is not any precise span of year s but may be viewed as

beginning wi�h s igns of puberty and c ontinuing until mo st have achieved

s�xual maturity, maximum growth in height , and have approximately

r eached the ir full mental growth .

From a behavioral per spective , adole sc ence . has been regarded by

Sieg ( 1971 ) as a period of development in human beings that begins when

individuals feel that adult privileges are due them which are not being

ac c orded them, and that ends when the full power and s ocial status of the

adult are ac corded to the individuals by their s oc iety . Thi s definition

eliminates certain biological factors as relevant such as puberty ,

univer sality of adolescence and age. The presence of adolescence is

dependent instead on the individual's perc eption of his rights . The

individual's attempt to attain the power and s ocial status of the· adult
forms the bas is for his actions during the adoles cent p eriod.

From a . phys iologic al perspective the following phy s i c al changes can be

expected to occur iri normal adoles c ents : ( 1 ) an increase in height and

weight ; ( 2) growth in different parts of the body ; ( 3 ) change s in bone

4
 5.
structure; ( 4 ) �ariations in bodily proportions; (5) growth of various

internal organs; · (6 ) changes in blood pressure; and ( 7 ) external and

internal pubertal alterations ( Cole, 1954 ) .

In addition to achievement of physical growth the adolescent is

expected to achieve certain developmental tasks as the child evolves into

an adult. These developmental tasks are defined as "skills, knowledge,

and functions or attitudes which individuals should acquire within a

specific period of their lives" ( Thornburg, 1970) . Eff"orts to fulfill

these tasks ultimately determine the behavior of the individual ( Cole,

1954 ) .

All aspects of adolescence, physiological,- . sociological, and

psychological, must be considered in a study of the teenager's ·nutrition

and . food behavior since they are all interrelated. Due to the rapid

physical changes_ which occur in their bodies teenagers become particularly

.
vulnerable to malnutrition ( Gifft et al., 1972 ) . Calorie and protein

requirements closely parallel growth rate and the attainment of the

menarche in girls raises the iron requirement significantly. Further­

more, inefficient use of certain important nutrients due to the frequency

an� magnitude of emotional problems compounds the problem of inadequate

nutrition ( Everson, 1960 ) . ·The achievement of independence and the need

for solidarity and individual expression are oftentimes expressed in the

teenager's choice of words, dress, and music a:s well as in the choice of

the foods eaten and·the time and place they are eaten ( Weiner, 1971 ) .
Nutritional problems among the teenage population are similar in

nature to those existing in other population groups in the United States

 ·6

but they may be ac centuated by the high nutritional needs of this group

( Gifft et al . , 1972 ) . Problems of underweight and overweight plague a

substant ial proportion of this group . and c omplic ations of pregnancy and

a high incidence of birth defects among infants of teenage mothers is

significant ( Evers on , 1960 ) .

C oncern over the nutritional status of the teenager is just ifi ed on

the grounds of evidence obtained from several research studie s . The Ten­

St ate Nutrition Survey ( Robbins , 1972 ) revealed that " children under the

age of 17 , espec ially teenagers , had the highest prevalence of nutritional

problems . "

Evers on ( 1960 ) states that the�e i s little question that the teenager

practices limit ed judgment in the choice of t ot al food eaten . Several

studie s involving determinat ion of the nutritional status of thi s age

group . revealed shortc omings in int akes of several important nutrients .

Inadequate intake s of c alcium, vitamin A, and ascorbic aci d were reported

by b oth Ever s on ( 1960 ) and Schorr et ai . ( 1972 ) who observed that 21 per­

cent of the teenagers studied c onsumed le s s than two-thirds of the

Recommended Daily Allowance for ascorbic acid , and 44 percent , 69 percent ,

and 51 perc ent received le s s than two-thirds of the RDA for calc ium, iron ,

and vitamin A, respectively . . Que stionable provis ion of an amino acid

mixture which will support optimal growth was noted by Everson (1960 )
and Hodges and Krehl ( 1965 ) , and high consumption of fat s and "empty

c alories" mentioned by Hodges and Krehl ( 1965 ) . High blood cholesterol

values found in a large number of teenagers has increased the c oncern

over the diet of thi s group ( Hodges and Krehl , ·1965) . Even though boys
 7

are le s s prone to nutritional inadequac ies due to the large volume of

food ingested ( Schorr et al., 1972 ) , they als o consume more fat than

girls . An average of 43 . 5 percent of.the total Calories c onsumed by

boys in the study by Hodg�s and Krehl ( 1965 ) was in the form of fat , an

amount higher than that recommended by the American Heart As soc iat ion .

Also , a s ignific ant correlati on between greater height and weight and

higher triglyceride conc entrations in the blood found by Hodge s and

.
Krehl ( 1965 ) would prove more problematic for boys than for girls .

Fre quent between-meal snacks and c onsumption of high c arbohydrate·

foods such as candy, soft drinks , and pastries have al�o been as s oc iat ed
.
with the development of dental caries among adole scent s ( Robbins , 1972 ) .

II . FOOD AND NUTRITION-RELATED INTERESTS AMONG TEENAGERS

In spite of the apparent need for proper nutrit ion the teenager has

c ons istently expre s sed little intere st or de s ire to le arn about or to

improve his nutrition .

The importance of interest i n subj ect matter as a prerequis ite to

learning ha: s been stre s s ed· . Bremer and Weatherholz ( 1975 ) who studied
the nutrit ion attitude s of 670 people in a univers ity comnnm ity found
that · those. who indi c ated the gre ate st intere st in nutr ition scored best
on the factual que stions and expre s s ed the gre atest conf-idence in the
relationship .be�ween diet and the maintenance of health . Likewise ,
.
. Shipman and McCannon ( 1964 ) founq that relevance of the topic for each
individual determined the degree of interest and increas ed the likelihood

of self- exposure to communic ations regarding the topic .

 8

Acc ording to Funk and Wagnell's ( 1973 ) definition, in't ere st ·is the

"cons c ious feeiing of c oncernment in an object , regarded · e spec ially as a ·

stimulant and guide to the arousement and direction of at tention. " With

the relat ionship between interest and learning in mind , re sult s of

several studies c oncerning teenage nutrit ion interest s seem e spec ially

disconc erting .

Orr ( 1965) found t opic s in nutrition rated lowest of all other

health areas in terms of expres sed he alth interests of 2 5 0 high school

s eniors from nine Knoxville , Tennes see, high schools . High s chool
student s' attitude s toward nutrition education and their knowledge of

nutrition were al so a s s e s sed by Dwyer et al . (1970 ) who found a high

degree of di s interest among the majority of student s te sted . Many students

comment ed that nutr ition education was "boring" or " old hat " and involved

the·memori z ation of useles s fac ts rather than real understanding .. Kirk

et al . (1975) found nutrition ranked lowe st on the ladder of Bedford

County, Tenne s s ee , student s ' he alth interest s , and Lant agne . ( 1952 ) found

nutrition to be only of " average" inter est to 10 , 000 secondary school

student s in·26 high_s chools of 10 different state s . However , when an

item analysi s of the 300 he alth interest t opic s was made there were
12 topi c s related directly or indirectly. to the are a of food and nutri­
tion which were among the 50 topi c s of gre atest int ere st . The author

c oncluded that low intere st in a health are a doe s not imply that all

problems within that area were of low intere st to students , rather there

may be specifi c items of both low . and high interest in e ach maj or health

area . .Thi s als o s eemed to be the c a se in Orr's ( 196 5 ) study . Again ,

 9

even though the ar ea of food and nut rition r anked lowe st in· health

i nt erest s of the s tudent s , the following top i c s wer e included among the

t e n mo s t intere s t ing topi c s : he art di s e a s e , e ffec t s o f alc ohol on the

body , how a human baby develop s , c are of the e yes , and skin ble mi s he s

in the t een ye ar s � The s e topi c s c ert ainly c an b e cons ider ed r elated t o

f ood and nutrit ion. He al s o found that even though general in terest in

the are a of nutr ition was low , c au s e s of over and underwe ight , how gland s

affe c t t he u s e of food by the body , di s order s pr oduced by the lack of

vit amin s , individual differen c e s · in food needs , and prop er c ooking of

foods were t opi c s wi thin the ar e a of nutrit ion rated highe s t by the .

student s .

Likewi s e , Dowe ll ( 1966 ) found s e c ondary student s to be h ighl y

intere s t e d in such pr oblems as s oc i at e d wit h nut rition a s fitne s s , we ight

c ontr c:>l , skin , and eye s , where a s they worr i ed mo s t about dental problems ,

ac ne , and overwe i ght . Dwyer et al . (1970) and Spindler and Acker ( 1963)

al s o found ( amo �g th i s age group ) c ons iderable int er e s t expre s s ed in the

areas of we ight los s and ski n problems .

S in ce at t itud e s often p o s e blocks t o bett er e at ing habit s it i s

import ant to look at prevailing fe eling s in order t o appr oach nutrit ion

educat ion from a more prac t i c al .s t andp o int. In s ight int o mot ivat ing ·

factor s of adole sc enc e , pert inent t opic s for nutrit ion educat i on, and

pr oblem ar e a s through whi c h one might inspir e int er e s t in the ·t e enag er i s

e s s ent ial to planning nutr it i on educ at ion programs . Obviously , programs

g ear ed t oward meet ing needs of a particular group will be most suc ce ssful.

'
Kirk et al . (1975), who in an earlier study found int er est in a few
 10

nutr ition related - topic s along with a gener al _di sinterest in the overall

area of nutrition , put their findings to work in a practi cal manner

through integrating nutr ition ins truction into the curr iculum of a com-

pr ehens ive health education program with nutrition serving as the con-

necting thte�ds within appropri ate unit s . The re sult s of that effort

will be available shortly.

The need for recognition of and respect for the complexity of the

needs and problems that charact erize the teenager's world today were

stre s sed by Leverton (1968 ) . Among the reasons she gives for little

succes s in encouraging adherence to guideline s pre s cribed by nutrition

educ ator s are : ( 1 ) Too often teenagers have been given the idea that

nutrit ion means eating what you don't like becaus e it i s good for you

rather than eat ing well because it will help you in what you want to do

and become; ( 2 ) Adole scents are not e?CPeri enc ing the·nutrit ional dis aster

that adult s are telling them will result from poor food habit s ; ( 3 ) Food

is only one component of the busy lives of the teenager and can receive

only_ a fraction of their attention; and ( 4 ) Many persons in strategic

positions to help them are not knowledgeable about practic al nutrition--

some are actually-mi sinformed .

III. LEVEL OF r TRITION KNOWLEDGE AMONG TEENAGERS

'·

The teenager's overall lack of intere st in nutrit ion-related t opi c s

may b e responsible for the apparent low c orrelation between the amount of

effort devoted to nutrition education and r eport ed measurements of food

and nutrition knowledge . ·

 11

Few studies have been reported on the· measurement . of food and

nutrit ion knowledge of teenagers . Tho se which have been reported are

generally limited as to geographic location and/ or percentage of popula­

tion te sted and they generally test food and nutr ition knowledge along

wit h various other hea� th-related factors ( Dwyer et al . , 1970) . In the

study c onducted by Dwyer et al . ( i970) , 1 , 338 students repre s enting

42 percent of all students in selected grade s in five urban high s chools

in Mas s achusett s had a mean score on a test of nutrition knowledge of

5 5 . 9 out of a possible score of 100 .

It was found by ·Kirk et al . ( 1975) that even though student s at all

grade levels in Bedford County, Tennes see , received mor e health instruc ­

t ion in the field of nutrition than in any other health-related area ,

nutrition knowledge a s me asured b y a standardized health behavior inven­

t ory ranked far below all other health areas . Likewi se , a national survey

of s chool health educ ation report s that the lowe st percentage of c orrect

re sponses among twelfth graders was in the area of nutrition as _ c ompared

with eleven other health content areas ( Sliepcevich, 1964) .

Us ing a·different approach Dowe11 ( 1966) studied the incidence of

.
neglect of nutrition instruction in the secondary schools in relation to
nutrition problems encountered in the community, expecting that there·
would be an inverse· relationship between the emphasfu on nutrit ion edu­
cation and the incidence of nutrition-related problems . However , they

found 'instead a higher incidence of health problems related t o nutrition

than would be expected from the instruction given .

 12 .

On a more pos itive note , Dwyer et al . ( 1970) did find an

insignific ant but c onsi stent increas e in the level of nutrition knowledge

fr om grade to grade which they attributed to the gathering of additional

.
information about nutrition , both through formal instruction in such

c ourses as b iology and chemistry and by informal education and experienc e s

obtained out side the s chool.

IV. FOOD AND NUTRITION MISCONCEPTIONS

In addition to low mot ivation for learning due to lack of intere st

in f ood and nutrition it s eems probable that low performance on nutrit ion

knowledge tests could als o be due to the prevalence of mis c onc eptions

regarding food and nutrition among . teenagers .

.
Results of the Tennes s ee Health Education Proj ect c onducted by Kirk

et al . ( 1975) in which low mean nutrit ion knowledge scores were found on

the elementary , j unior , and senior high levels in spite of a high

emphas i s on nutrition education prompted the author s ' suggest ion · that the

educ at ional program was pos sibly effect ive in promoting mi sinformat ion .

Few attempt s have been made t o distinguish between the secondary· student's
food and nutrit ion knowledge and mi sinformat ion even though wrong answers
on nutrition te sts are often indic ative of mis information or wrong
le arning rather than a t otal lack of knowledge be cause . of the prevalenc e
of unfounded beliefs based on mi sinformation , folklore , tradition , and

super stitious beliefs ( Dwyer et al. , 1970) .

A misconception may be defined as "a belief commonly held as true

but which i s not in acc ord with s cient ific evidenc e to date . Thi s would
 13

include fallac ies , fads , and half-truths " (Wang , 1971) . Mi s conceptions

may ari se from wrong learning or mi sinformation as well ·a s inadequat e

learning or insuffic i ent information ( Heflin and Pangle , 1966 ) .

Acc ording.t o Gifft et al . {1972) the teenager i s generally

psychologic ally and s oc ially prone to nutr ition problems . The need for

expres s ion of independence often i s reflected in adoption of eating

patterns c alculated to test adult re strictions . Fad di et s and peculiar

not ions about po sitive and.negative attributes of foods are perpetuated

by the all- important peer group . Fad s and cult s such as vegetarianism

evolve out of the need for · independence and ident ity . Concern over the

rapid phys iological changes occurring in the body i s often cau s e for

manipulations of the diet in an attempt to influenc e their physical

appearance . When the se manipulations of the diet are bas ed·on erroneous

beliefs or mi s information they become undes irable at least , and unfor­

tunately , s9metime s dangerous .

Nutrition c oncept s'are especially vulnerable t o various

interpretat ions and mi sinformation abounds . The teenager along,with the

vast majority of the American public is bombarded with nutrition infor�

mation and mi sinformat ion from a variety of s ources ( Bruch , 1970;
Hender son , 1974 ; New and Priest , ·1967 ; Rynears on , 1974; Sipple , 19�4 ) .
Kilander ( 1964 ) point s out .that there are pos s ible mor e mi sconc eptions
and half-truths still believed by the American public in nutrit ion than

in any other area of health . He concluded from result s of a 33-item

multiple choice t e st that nearly one half of the 5, 000 subje cts , a
majority of which were high s chool graduat es and 30 percent of which were
 college · graduates , .were not knowledgeable enough to be able to choose

adequate di et s for thems elves .

A high prevalence o f mis conceptions regarding food and nutrition .

has been found among children , junior and senior high school student s ,

4-H youth , univers ity student s , c ollege graduates , and low inc ome Negro
and white urban families. �
Sutton (1962 ) found mi s�oncept ions relating to health , espec ially

in the area of nutrition , to be c ommon among children and youth. Seven

out of ten g irl s in the tenth grade believed that any food that does not

smell or taste spoiled is s afe to eat . Three out of four fifth and sixth

grade pupils and more than half of a group of tenth grade girls believed

t hat �aking vitamin pills guaranteed good health and one�half of thes e

girls believed v�tamins in pills are bett er than vitamins . in natural

foods . The belief that hot food i s more nutrit ious than cold was held

by one out of three college student s .

Williams ( 1956 ) developed an instrument to measure health

mi sc onc ept ions among high school students in Enfi eld , North C arolina, and

· found that they entertain a high degree of health mi sc onc eptions.. The ·
greatest of the s e were in the area of nutrition and pers onal and environ­
mental health . In the area of nut rition, ninth graders showed a higher
degree of health mi sconceptions than the student s in the other three

grades .

In a study of the prevalence of nutr it ion misconceptions among

c ollege .fres hmen prior to instruction in nutrit ion, Osma� · (1967 ) found

the mean number of nutrition mi sconceptions to be 30 . 90 out of 144 and

 15
t h e mean "don ' t know" s c ore t o be 33 . 84 resulting in a t otal of

64 st atement s out· of 144 which the student s could not answer c orrectly .

Boys subscribed to more mi sconc eptions and had more "don ' t know"

respons e s than did girls although the differences were not s ignificant .

Heflin and Pangle ( 1966 ) als o found substant ial misconc eptions on

six out of the fifteen nutrition and diet related questions upon admini s­

tration of the Dearborn Health Knowledge Te s t to 243 Peabody College

student s enrolled in the required health education c ours e .

. Likewi se , Adams ( 1959 ) , who studied health mi sc onc eptions of c ollege

fre shmen at · the Univers ity of Oregon , found the great e st perc entage of

misconcept ions in the area of foods and nutr ition among male s .

Females believed 43 percent of the 19 nutrition misconcept ions as com­

pared t o male s who believed 49 perc ent •

. First year students at a Canadian univers ity were found to subscribe

to. a substantial number of nutrition misconceptions in a study by

McCarthy and Sabry ( 1973 ) • . The mean mi sconception score on a 70- item

true , false , don ' t know questionnaire was 18 . 6; the mean c orr ect answer

score , 37�8 and th� mean don ' t know respons e , 13 . 6 . Little differenc e
was noted in either mi s�onception 6r c orrect answer sc6res for males and
females nor were·mi s c onc eption scores related to rural or urban background
of students or to number of years the student had been in 4-H club .
On the ba sis of information obtained through studies of the

prevalence of food and nutrition mis c onc ept ions it can be surmi sed that

the percentage of misconc eptions varies acc ording t o the various c ategories
 16

of topic s c overed in the survey . McCart�y and Sabry ( 1973 ) found a high

number of misconceptions regarding environmental factors ( food additives ,

pe sticide res idues , food proc e s s ing , and food enrichment) and fewer mi s -

. c oncept ions regarding health foods . Jalso et al . ( 1965 ) found mor e

invalid opinions regardi ng spec ial "health" foods and soil deplet ion ,

chemical fertili zers , and insecticide s than in other areas .

It also has been obs erved that for some population group s formal

training in home economic s or related areas may lower misc onception

scores and increase· correct responses on tests designed to measure food

and nutrition knowledge and mi s c onc eptions . · Wilson and Lamb ( 1968 )

found that women with background s in home ec onomic s did not ac cept as many

food fallacie s as did their peers with hi�her education in ac ademic

di sciplines other than home ec onomic s . However; c ollege graduates , in

general , accepted more false beliefs about food than non- college graduates .

The investigat or s c oncluded that education in home economic s at the college

level make s a pos itive c ontribution to correct food beli efs . Likewi se ,
Bremer and Weatherholz ( 1975 ) fourid that adult s with formal training in

nutrition and biochemi stry were more skeptical of the value of "organic "
and "health " foods .than those lacking such training .
McCarthy and Sabry (1973 ) found that home ec onomics education in
s e condary school appeared to be related to lower mi sconc eption scores and

higher c orrect answer scores among first-year_Canadian univers ity student s .

However , secondary high s chool home economic s in struction was found to be

unrelated to sound dietary practic e s of pregnant teenagers in a study by

S ingleton (1974 ) .
 17

Harrison and Irwin ( 1964 ) found that a large perc entage of junior

high students subscribed to a number of harmful health mi sc onc eptions,

many in the area of f.o od and nutrition , regardle s s of metropolitan area ,

�

sex; grade level , _or number of seme sters of health instruct ion . More-

over, . recency of he alth instruction seemed to bear no relation to the

number of misc onceptions held or in reducing the prevalence of health

mis c onc eptions in a study c onducted by Baker ( 1964 ) . In this study which

measured mi s conceptions related to food and nutrition along with ten

other health areas, students with no pr ior health instruct ion tended to

be no more mi sconceived than those with health instruction . Williams

( 1956 ) noted a slight but progres sive.decline, howeve r , in health mi scon-

c eptions in nutrition as the pupils moved upward from ninth to the twelfth

grade s .

The ability of 4-H youth·to di stinguish nutr it ion fal�ac ies from

facts was found by Wa?g (1971 ) t o be s imilar t o low- income homemakers

which was poor as c ompared to middle- inc ome homemaker s . She attributed

the differences in quality of nutrition knowledge t o different levels of

educ ation with c onc omitant greater varieties of experiences . Similarly,

acc ording to Jalso et al . ( 196 5 ) food beli ef questionnaire respondent s
who were class ified as food "faddist s " had les s formal educat ion and le s s
nutrition educat ion than·did "non-faddi st s " and were conc entrated in the
older age and lower · inc ome groups . Als o , in a study of 310 low- inc ome ,

urban Negro household head � Cornely et al . ( 1963 ) found education to be

more clo sely related to rej ection of folk-beliefs than age , prior resi-

dence , or number of children in specific age categories . It was c oncluded

 18

that low-income families have insuffici ent information about the

e s s ent ials of. an adequate diet and that they ret ain faith in a number of

erroneous folk beliefs conc ·erning food and nutr it ion .

It seems that certain populations may be more open t o mi sinformation

than othe rs . In a study c onducted to det ermine if an .as soc iation exi st s

between food faddi st beliefs and practices and age and educ at i�n level ,

it w·a s found that educ ation was pos itively correlated with scores on both

nutrition practic e s · and opinions but a negat ive c orrelat ion exi st ed

between age and scores on both opinions and pr act ice; that i s , as age

increas ed valid nut rition opinions and practices de creas ed . Since further

analysi s revealed a negative correlation existing betwe en age and educ a­

tion· it was determined that age is the s ingle most import ant vari able

affect ing s cores for both opinions and practice s ( Jal so et al . , 1965) .

Dwyer et al . ( 1970 ) noted a surpris ing di screpancy . between level of

knowledge and areas of intere st in food and nutrition as express ed by

teenage girls . The areas of greater intere st , as expre s s ed on a five

que st ion open- ended que st ionnaire , were the very one s they know least

about . The inve stigators attributed this inc ons i st ency to the fact that
of all the topic s .o f nutr it ion, weight control and energy balance ar e ·

probably those in which the most mi sinformation abounds .and is public ized
to the greatest e�tent . It may be that the· ·girls abs orbed· more of the
mis informat ion be cause they were more likely to be exposed to and inter­

ested in such topic s . Exposure to more sources of informat ion �lso may

account for finding a higher prevalence of misconceptions among c ollege

 19

gr aduat e s than among non-c ollege gr aduat e s in Wi l s on and Lamb's (1968 )

study.

The evidence is c ontrad i c t ory then regarding the prevalence'of

mi s c onc eptions and degr e e of education. It · s e ems that in one ins t ance·

training in home e c onomi c s de creased the ent ertainment of fal s e food

be liefs but that edu c ation alone and higher intere s t in spec ific t opi c s

r elated t o food and nutr iti on al s o ma y r e s ult i n gr eat er expo sure to

information on the subject , a large proportion of whi c h may be erro n eous.

It s e e ms plaus ible that general characteri st ics of c ertain populat i on

gr oup s , e . g. , the a g ed and adole s c ent s , may c ontribut e to greater gulli-

bility reg arding food and nut r it ion' mi s informat ion.

V.· THE EFFEC T OF EXPOS� TO MIS INFORMATION

ON NUTRITION-RELATED BEHAVIOR

.
It is i mport ant to cons ide r c ommon food and nutrition mi sconceptions

among various populati on groups s inc e it is rec ognized that knowle dge of
_

s c ient i fic ally c orrect info rmation plays a relatively minor role in the

behavior of the individual. While · r e c ogn izing s cienti fic knowl e dge we

als o p ay at tention to symb olic relati onship s and emotion s may overri de

r e a s on , ri gor ous logi c , and s c ience ( de Garine , 1972 ) .

_
Th e i rllportance of gearing nutrit ion e duc at ion programs t oward

value s and int ere st s of the t e enager has be en empha s i z ed. However , it

i s equally important to r e c ogn i z e that means of r e alizing value s and

s at i s fying intere s t s are often ba s e d on erroneous informat ion. For

instance, health ranked fir st· in a study conduct ed to determine which

value s ar e op erat ive in the t e enage boy's dec i s ions involving food
 20
choices ( McElroy and Taylor , 1966 ) . Howeve r , the layman ' s pot ion of

what i s healthful or good to eat often is bas ed on unfounded beli efs

rather than on sc ientific evidenc e (Dwyer et · al . , 1970 ) . Thus , Litman

et al . (1964 ) who studied 1039 subj ect s between the age.s of t en and

twenty-two year s f.ound that preferenc e for such foods as milk , me at ,

eggs ,_ spinach , fruits , fruit juices , and so forth was based on health and

nutrition relat ed rationale . However , even though the common rationale

for prefer ences for the s e foods were related t o health and good nutrition ,

an evaluation of the nutr itional accuracy . of the students ' re sponses

revealed that only 60 perc ent of the reas ons were adjudged to be nutri-

tionally ac curat e . · Furthermore , there seemed t o· be considerable reliance

on errone ous or mi sinformation •

. Ac cording to Dwyer et al . ( 197 0 )

• • t eaching �ase d on overcoming deeply entrenched
.

mi staken not ions about nut rit ion based on incorrect information
and replac ing it with cortect conc ept s is - a more difficult task
than te aching the correct conc ept to a tot ally naive subj ect .
Those who have mis conc eptions ar e often le s s re sponsive and
attentive pupils sinc e they believe they already pos s e s s the
correct information .

VI . SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON FOOD AND NUTR ITION

· rf mis informat fon is S1.J.Ch a cr itical factor in determining food

habit s of the t eenager it would seem e s sent ial to determine how and why
he rece ives the var io�s mes s ages regarding food and nutr it ion .

A revi ew of the available liter ature revealed few studies conduct ed

to ident ify sources of the teenagers ' nutrit ion informat ion . Jalso et al .

( 1965 ) who studied nutritional opinions and pract ic e s of a subsample

 21

of 101 subj ects repre s enting a wide range of age , inc ome , and formal

educ ation found that those subj ect s clas s ified as "faddist s " read more

nutrit ion books of questionable validity than approved books . Magazine s

and newspapers were the most frequent s ources of nutr ition information .

used by both faddi sts and non-faddists whereas radio and televi sion were

not maj or s ources of information for either group . It is not pos s ible

to generalize �he re sults of thi s study to the teenage population , however ,

s ince differenc e s among age groups were not determined in the inve stiga­

tion .

In a study of nutrit ion knowledge , attitude s , and practice s of

Canadian public health nur se s . ( Schwart z , 1975 ) it was found that nur ses

who received . nutrition instruction and . information from a nurs ing instruc­

tor during their training program achieved signific antly lower s c ore s in

tests of nutrition knowledge and practices than did nurses who received

nutrit ion instruction from a nutritioni st or dieti tian . The author con­

c luded that it should not be as sumed that all s ourc es of nutrition educa­

tion re sult in improved knowledge , attitude s , and practices of public

health nurs e s .
A s omewhat dated but neverthele s s disturbing review conducted by a
governmental committee in which selected public school textbooks wer e
reviewed for the ir scientific ac curacy of health information r·evealed
that nutrition ranked high in the perc entage of errors reported and the

extent of error increased with the age · of the book ( Committee on Text - ·

books , 1953 ) . A replic ation _ of thi s review would b e indicated t o deter­

mine sourc e s of mi sinformation prior to revi sion of nutrition educ ation
 22

programs . If one were able to det ermine the maj or sourc es of

mis information perhaps nutr iti on educ ators c ould also work t oward

utiliz ing the se media t o c ounter fallac ies with facts . Whit e ( 1973 )

als o sugge sted c ont inued peer review of the purveyors of nutrition

information to allevi ate the problem of proliferation of mi sinformat ion .

The obj ectives · of the pre sent study were :

1. To determine the teenage student's le vel of knowledge regarding

general food and nutr ition principles .

2. To measure the pre valence of mi sc onceptions regarding food and

nutrit ion among teenage students .

3. To identify those source s of informat ion the teenage student

ut iliz e s in gaining information regarding food and nutrition;

e . g . , medical doctor ; teacher , · popu:Lar books on nutr ition , mail

advert isement s , friends , etc .

4. To det ermine _. tho se . t opic s within the realm of food and nutr ition

which the teenage student cons iders intere sting .

5. T o determine what topic s in food and nutrition are most subj ect

to perpetuat ion of mi sinformation among teenage students .

It has b�en hyp othesized that :
1. Tenth through twelfth gr ade teenage student s sub s cribe to a
number of mi sconceptions regarding food and nutr it ion .

2. The teenage student will subscribe t o more mi sco n ceptions which

relate to those topic s in which he is mo st interested .

3. The teenage student . obtains hi s information regarding food and

nutr ition fr om s ources other than recognized expert s .
 23

4. The teenager ' s level of knowledge of food and nutr ition

. c orrelates with the extent of hi s formal tr aining in thi s area.·

5. C ertain topics within the are a of food · and nutr ition are of mor e

interest t o the t eenage student than other t opic s .

 CHAPTER III

PROCEDURES

I. PRELIMINARY STUDY

Prior to instigation of the pres ent study a pilot proj ect was

undertaken at a private C atholic coeducational Knoxville , Tennes see , high

school . At the request of the s chool ' s s c ience and home economic

te achers , a que stionnaire was . de signed to as se s s food and nutrition

knowledge of their· 15 3 , ninth through twelfth grade student s .

The · que stionnaire measured knowledge and mi sconceptions in the

following areas · : food - additives , vegetarian diet s , "health " foods ,

weight reduction , food labeling laws , nutrient requirement s and functions ,

and food fads and myths . Food and nutrition textbooks , profe s s ional

periodicals , newspaper s , and lay literature pertinent to food and nutri­

tion were used in the c ompilation of st atements to be included in the

questionnaire ( e . g . � Bruch , 1970 ; Buchan , 1972 ; Cornely et al . , 1963;

Cus sler and de Give , 195 2 ; de Garine , . 1972 ; Deut sc h , 1961 ; Harrison and
· Irwin , 1964 ; Heflin an� Pangle , 1966 ; Kilander , 1964 ; fus illo , 19'"(4 ;

McCarthy and Sabry , 1973 ; Osman , 1967 ) .

Student s were instructed t o re spond to forty true-fal s e statements
by c ircling "T" or "F" and to indic ate c onfidence in the re spons e by

circling a number of the five -point scale . of certainty whi ch ranged from

." 1" ( "very certain" ) to " 5 ." ( "very doubtful" ) .

24
 25

On the bas is of re sult s of the preliminary study and pers onal

interviews with selected que stionnaire respondent s , it was determined that

the true - false. statement with a five - point s c ale of confidenc e was appro­

priate for obtainin g the informat ion nec e s s ary for the final study .

Additionally, it was found that the directions and manner of res ponding

were readily comprehended by thi s age gr oup . Voc abulary proved to be

problemat ic in s ome cas e s and was ther efor e s implified in statements

included in the final instrument . .

This preliminary inve stigation reve aled a low level of food and

nutrition knowledge and a di sturbing degree of adherenc e t o false food

beliefs among thi s te enage population and indicated a need for a mor e

extensi ve study of the high school population of Knoxville . The present

study was de s igned to me asure food and nutr ition mi sc onc-eptions , intere st

in food and nutrition-related topics , and informat ion s ource s of tenth

through twelfth grade Knoxville , Tenne s s ee , student s.

Approval for c onducting the study was obtained fr om the Director of

Instruction , Knoxville C ity Schools , Dr . Paul Kelley, as well as from the

princ ipal s and teachers of the schools involved in the re search proj e ct .

II . SAMPLE

With t he .aid of the Dire ctor of Instruct ion , Knoxville C ity Schools ,

four city high schools repres enting the north , south , e·ast , and we st

sectors of the city were sel e cted whi ch were believed to be representa­

tive of the wide ' range of s ocio-e conomi.c strata of Knoxville and wo'l:lld

include a balance of black to white student s . Perc entage s of c ollege-bound

 26

student s ac cording to school were : School 1 (60 perc ent ) , School 2

( 27 percent ) , Sc hool 3 ( 30 percent ) , and School 4 ( 38 percent ) . Per­

centage s of eco.nomically dis advantaged student s from each school were :

School 1 ( 2 percent ) , School 2 ( 16 perc ent ) , School 3 ( 8 percent ) , and

School 4 ( 5 percent ) ( Knoxville Sch . Admin . , 1976 ) .

Pr incipals of each s chool included in the study were c·ontact ed and

the ir · c ooperation enlisted . The principal s and teachers involved

.
reque sted that study hall s and/ or chorus and gym clas s e s be used s ince a

heterogeneous represent at ion of tenth , eleventh , and twelfth grade

stude nt s c ould be obtained without disruption of a number of separate

clas s e s . A total s ample of 185 student s c omposed of 91 male s and

94 females wer e included· in the study .

III. QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT

Sinc e a suit able instrument t o te st the hypothes e s of the current

study was not available , a questionnaire (App endix A) was developed to

determine : ( a ) food and nutrit ion knowledge and mi sconcept ions ,

"
,(b ) food and nutr ition-related intere sts , and ( c ) i nformat ion s ources of
the teenage group . Selected demogr aphic data were obtained to fac ilit ate
interpretati.on of the re sult s .

Food and Nutrit ion Knowledge and Mi sconc eptions

As in the preliminary .s tudy, a review of current food and nutrition

textbooks and periodi cals , newspapers , mail c irculars , and lay literature
was used in .the c omp ilati on of popular invalid beli efs and not ion s about
 . .

27

food . and nutrition . Th is s erved as the basis for the knowledge and

mi sconception segment of the que stionnaire .

A mis c onc eption i s defined as a wrong answer in which the respondent

expre s s e s a high degree of c onfidence . Therefo�e , mi sc oncept ions may be

me asured by· que st ions re�Uiring a true -fals e response along with an indi -

c ation of degree of certa;inty. Conver sely , knowledge

--
is defined as a

correct re sponse with a c oncomitant high level of cert ainty . Methods

for measur ing mi s c onceptions de scribed by Baker et al . (1964 ) and Heflin ·

and Pangle· ( 1966 ) were modified and adapted for use in the current study .

Fifty- six que stions were included in the final instrument to which

the students were instruct ed to answer as either "true " or 11 fal s e " and

to indicat e on a five-point gradation of c ertainty their level of c on-

fidence in the response . Thus a response of either "1" or "2 " was inter-

preted to mean c ons ide r able confidenc e and a " 3 , " "4 , " · or " 5 " as little

confidence or a gue s s . The five-point gradation of certainty ( Warren

and Specht , 1970 ) was believed to be more sensitive than the three -point

s c ale used by Heflin and Pangle ( 1966 ) .

Food and Nutrition-Related Int ere st s

S elected t opi c s relating �o food and. nutr ition ( e . g . , diet ·and
weight watching , fad diet s , health foods , and so forth ) were derived from
a number of food and nutr it ion textbooks , lay literature , and profe s sional

publi cations addres sed to f.ood , nutr ition , and he alth . Twenty- e ight

i terns. repre s ent ing the following categories of inter e st s : Diet and

We ight Wat ching , " Organic " and "He alth" Food s , Vegetar i an Di et s , D i e t in

Relation to Dise ase, Foods MY Body Ne�ds , Food Safety , Nutr ition and
 28

Pregnancy, and Mi sc ellane ous were included in Part II of the final

instrument . Questionnaire respondents were instructed to indicate . their

degree of intere st in each item by circling one number on . a five-point

s c ale which . ranged from "ex:tremely intere st ing" ( "1" ) t o "not at all

interesting" ( " 5 " ) .

Information Sourc e s

Nine possible source s o f food and nutr ition informat ion wer·e

determined and li sted in Part III of the instrwnent . Re spondents were

asked to li st the first , second , and t hird mos t fre quently used informa­

tion s ource for each of the following t opi c s : Diet and We ight Watching ,

"Organic" and "He alth" Foods , Vegetarian Diet s , Diet in Relation to

Dis e ase , Foods My Body Needs , Food · s afety, Nutrition and Pregnancy,. and

Food Preparation .

Validity
S ix food and nutrition profe s sionals repres enting a variety of

ac ademic ranks at the College of Home Economic s , Univer sity of

Tennes see , Knoxville , agreed to serve on the panel of expert s to assist

in e s t ablishing validity of the testing instrument . Instructi ons were t o

re spond t o each o f 84 statements o n the knowledge · and mi sconceptions

sect ion of the preliminary instrument by c ircling "true" or " fal se" on
the bas is of current knowledge regarding the t opic . Expert s als o were

instructed to indicate if a definitive answer c ould not be given . It ems

which two or more experts noted c ould not be answered with c onfidence

according to pre sent knowledge were excluded from the final quest ionnaire .
 29

Ambiguous or eas ily mi sinterpreted st atement s were either reworded or

excluded on the bas is of c onunent s by the panel .

In addit ion to evaluat ing the true-false statements the panel was

asked to study the topi c s included in the food and nutrition-related

intere st s and . informat ion sourc e s port ions of the que st ionnaire and to

provide· sugge stions for omi ss ions or addit ions to these sect ions . Thes e

suggestions �ere incorporated in the final instrument .

Reliab ility of a validated in strument i s implied ( Black and

Champion , 1976 ) . Patterned responses were di sc erned through inspect ion

of each quest ionnaire .

IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE

Pr incipals of each school were c ont ac ted and arrangement s made for

suitable times to admini ster the que st ionnaire. Que stionnaires were

numbered arid divided into lot s of four to be di str ibut ed among the four

s chools.

At the beg inning of the 45 to 55 minute clas s periods , the researcher

or a trained student as sistant explained the purposes of the res earch

proj ect and solic ited the c ooperation of the students . · Part ic ipation wa s
reque sted but not mandatory. Directions for all sections of the que stion­
naire were read to the student s prior to admini stration and as s istance

was offered t o the student s by the �e se archer and/ or a s s istant s as the

student s answered the que st ionnaires.

 30

V. ANALYSIS. OF DATA.

The dat a were analyzed ac cording to the Stat istical Pac kage for the

Soci �l Sc iences computer progr am ( Nie et al . , 1976 ) . Questionnair es

were pr e-coded making po s s ible . the direct translation of data to c omputer

cards by key punch operators .

Food and Nutr it ion Knowledge

Computer sc oring of each questionnaire provided knowledge s c ores

for all re spondent s . ·The s c ore reflected a total number of correct

responses witl:l c oncomitant high level s of confidence ; i . e. , "1" or "2"

on the five -point s c ale . Correct responses . with lower levels of c onfi-

dence , i . e. , " 3 , " "4 , " or " 5 , " were not included in the knowledge sc ore.

Knowledge s core frequenc ies were · t abulat ed and the mean and standard

deviat ion for all s c ores were det ermined.

Food and Nutrition Mi s c onceptfons

Misc onception score s for all respondent s along with de script ive

statistic s were obt aine d through computer sc oring of questi onnaires . A

mis c onception s c ore for an ' individual was c ons trued as a wrong answer in
which the. respondent expre s sed considerable c onfidence , i .-e . , "1" or " 2 "
on the five-point scale. Inc orrect answer s with lower levels of confi -
dence , i. e . , " 3 , " " 4 , " or " 5 " were not included in the mi sc onception

s c ore .
A t test was used t o determine if significant difference s exi sted

between mean mi s c onception scores for males and female s and a one-way
 31
analys i s of variance with Neuman-Keuls procedure ( Champion , 1970 ) was
. .

performed . to determine signific ant difference s exi sting among grade s and

schools .

In order to determine whether or not signific ant differences

exi sted among c ategories of mis c onceptions , the -que stions were grouped

int o the following s even categorie s : ( 1 ) Diet and Weight Wat ching ,

( 2 ) " Organic " and "Health" Foods and Veget arian Diet s , ( 3 ) Di et in

Relation t o Di sease , · (4 ) Foods MY Body Needs , ( 5) Food Safety,

(6 ) Nutrit ion · and Pregnancy, and ( 7) Mi scellaneous . The data were divided

into c ategories of "high" or "low" mi s c onception s c ore s and were subj ected

to c omparison by chi - square analysis .

Food and Nutrition-Related Interest s

Food and nutrition-related interest respons e s to topic s were coded

as follows : · " extremely intere s ting " = 1 , "very intere st ing " = 2,

"moderately interesting " = 3 , " slightly interesting " = 4 and "not at all

interesting" = 5. Frequency c ounts were obtained for ·all re spons e s to

items in the interest section and mean · re sponse by sex obtained for each
item. I n addit i on , t op ic s of int e r e s t we re c at eg or i z e d i nt o the following

seven categori e s : · ( l ) Diet and Weight Watching , ( 2 ) " Organic " and

"Health" Foods and Vegetarian Diet s , ( 3 ) Diet in Relation to Di s e a s e ,

. ( 4 ) Foods My Body Needs , (5 ) Food Safety , ( 6 ) Nutrition and Pregnancy,

and ( 7) Mis cellaneous . Thi_s c ategorization was ne c e s s ary for data

analyse s involving as s ociation of interests and mi sconc epti ons variables .

 32

Information Sources

For e ach of the following eight c ategories of information : ( 1 ) Diet

and Weight Watching , ( 2) " Organic " and "He alth" Foods , (3 ) Veget·ari an

D.i et s , ( 4 ) _D iet in Relation to Di sease , ( 5 ) Foods :My Body Needs ,

(6 ) Food Safety, ( 7 ) Nutrition and Pregnancy, and _ (8 ) Food Preparation ,

the fir st , second , an·d third most frequently used source s or' information

were obtained . Frequency c ounts for informat ion sources were obt ained

ac cording to grade level , sex , and total frequency . Chi - s quare analysi s

was used t o determine whether or not s ignificant difference s existed

among grade s and s cho'ols , or between sexes .

As sociation Between Mi sconception S c ore

and Degree of Interest

Goodman ' s and Kruskal ' s gamma t e st of as sociation (Champion , 1970 )

me asures the degree of ass ociation between two ordinal-level variable s .

Thus , it was . pos s ible to determine whether or not a relationship existed

between high intere st and high mis c onceptions .

 CHAPrER IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

I .- FOOD AND NUTRITION. MISC ONC E PTIONS

. .

C ons iderabl e . subscription to food and nutr it i on mi s c oncept ions wa s

not ed acr o s s s exe s . and the thr e e gr ade leve ls in the pre s�ent study. The

mean mi s c onception s c ore for the tot al populat ion was 14 . 9 ± 6.2

( Table 1 ) . · The s c or e s r anged fr om one mi s c onc ept i on t o a high of 34 out

of a pos s ible 56 . S ince mi s c onc eptions r efle c t wrong answe r s whi c h the

re spondent is c e rt ain ar e c orr e c t , an ave rage s c ore of 14 . 9 out of 56 ,

or 27 p erc ent i s subs t ant ial .

A t te st p er formed on the me an mi s c onc ept i on s c or e s of males and

femal e s ( Table 1 ) det ermined that the s ex e s were s imilar . Likewi s e , an

analys i s of variance p erformed on me an mi sc onc ept i on s c or es for tenth ,

e leventh , · and twelfth grade pupil s ( Table 1 ) indi c ated no · s igni fi c ant
.

differenc e s among gr ade level s .

Will i ams (1956 ) found the h i gh e s t degr ee of h e alth mi s c oncept i ons

among a group of ninth through twelfth gr ade North C arolina high s chool

student s to be in the are a of nutr it ion . In hi s study, ninth grade student s

show.ed a higher degree of mi s c onc ept ion s than the other thr e e grade s .

Bo ys subs cr ibe d t o s li ghtly mor e mi s c onc eptions than girl s but the differ­

enc e was not s ignific ant. · He alth mi s c onceptions in gener al de c lined as

the pupils moved fr om grade t o grade with the exc ept ion of the e leventh

grade wh ich showe d an incr eas e. Likewise , Wang ( 197 1 ) found a gr oup of

33
 34

Maryland 4 -H youth maint ained a low level of nutrit ion knowledge and a

high subscription to misc onceptions . She als o noted no signific ant

differences betwe en males and females .

Table l . Misconception and knowledge s c ores for 185 teenage student s

a
Mean
Group Mi sc onceptions Knowledge

Male s l4 . 9 ± 6 . 5 16 . 5 :!:" 7 . 7
N = 91

Females l4 . 8 +
6.0 17 . 5 :!:" 6 . 4
N 94
=

Grade 10 14 . 9 ± 6 . 1 16 . 0 +
4. 9
N =82
+
Grade 11 15 . 3 ± 7 . 2 17 . 6 -
4.0
N =52
+ +
Grade 12 14 . 4 -
5 .4 18 . 1 -
5.3
N =51

Total 14 . 9 +- 6 . 2 17 . 0 -+ 7 . 1
N 185
=

a+
st andard devi ation .

The mean mi s conception s c ores for the four different s chools were
12 . 1 ( School 1 ) , 14 . 9 ( School 2 ) , 16 . 2 ( School 3 ) , and 16 . 2 ( School 4 ) .
These differences wer e s ignificantly different at the . 004 level ac c ording

to an analysis of variance performed on the data ( Table 2 ) . A Neuman-

Keuls procedure ( Champion , 1970 ) indic at ed that the significant differ-

ences were betwe en S chools 1 and 2 , 1 and 3, and 1 and 4 .

 35

Table 2 . Analys is of variance for mi sconception s c ore s ·of 185 pupil s in

four s chools

S ourc e o.f Sum of Mean

Variation Square s d f.
.• Squares F p

Between Groups 505 . 9023 3 168 . 6341 4 . 556 0 . 004

Within Groups 6699 . 4844 '1 81 37 . 01 37
Tot al 7205 . 3867 184

When re spons e s were pooled and categorized acc ording to area of

mi sc onceptions ( Table 3 ) it was found that students sub scribed to more

mi sconc eptions in the c ategory of Foods My Body. Needs ( 33 . 5 percent

mis c onceptions ) than in any of the other six categorie s . Percent mi scon-
cept ions for the other c at egories in de s cending order were : Diet and

Weight Watching ( 32 . 1 ) ; Mis cellaneous ( 24 . 5 ) ; Diet in Relation to

Disease ( 23 . 1 ) '; Organic and Health Foods and Veget arian Diet s ( 21 . 5 ) ;

Nutrition and Pregnancy ( 19 . 5 ) ; and Food Safety ( 11 . 0 ) .

In order to determine if the number of mi sconceptions in any

c �t egory . were s ignificantly greater than mi sconceptions in any other

category, compari s on by chi - squar e was made of high and low mis c onception
scores in one c ategory against each of s ix other c ategori e s . It can be
seen in Table 4 that several s ignific ant differ ence s exi sted .
Probably more reflective of the predominance of mi sconcept ions is
the number of student s mi sconceived on 33 percent or more of the items

in each of the seven c ategories ( Table 3 ) . Again , more student s sub-

s cribed t o mi sc onceptions in the c at egory Foods My Body Needs than in any

Tabl e 3 . Mean number of misconceptions by cat egory and percent of
student s mis c onceived on 33 percent or more items in each
category_

Percent
Number of Mean Mi sconc eived
Quest ions Mi scon- on 33 Perc ent
Category in Category ceptio"n s or More It ems

Foods :r-.zy- Body Needs -'.1 )1 J '1, ;t Q , .2. I 8 2 . 68 60 . 0

. . 4.- 3 f :l y

Diet and Weight Wat ching . 16 5 . 14 58 . 9

Nutrition and Pregnancy 4 . 78 53 . 0

· Diet in Relation
to Di s ease 9 2 . 08 35 . 1

"Organic " and "Health" I , I :$'J .;, i

Foods and Vegetarian Di ets 6 1 . 29 35 . 1

Mi sc ellaneous 11 2 . 70 28. 6

Food Safety 2 . 22 19 . 9
 a
Table 4 . Chi - square value s de rived from compari s on of number of high and low mi s c onc ept ion
s c ores in 7 mi s c onception c ategorie s against each other and level of s ignificance for
each compari son

s::
�till
'"dS::ro rcJello ·r-1a 0
•ri
..j.;) (J) Cll
�
..j.;)
rcJ
§ �
Cll

5Q)
·r-1 till 0 H ro u.2 (J)
(J)
::::
s::
•r-1 C) ::
� ro
..j.;)
u.2
..j.;)
rl
(J)
ro
(J)
�-�Q) G-1
ro
s:: s::
o
C)
ro
s::
ro
•r-1 Q) (J) p:j Cll en •r-1 s:: rl
§ ..0 ·� �
re ..O
•r-1
s:: C) till
..j.;) (J) A s::: · r-1 - o � '"d0 ..j.;) till rl
ro "t;j
till rl >
·r-1 A
O '"d ·r-1 Q) Q)
..j-;) ;3:
(J) � m '"d ..j.;) 0
(J) ..j.;)
� 0
I=Q
0
�
Jj � C)
Cll
•r-1
•r-f
A :: ;=: § _ •r-1
A
� :a::

Diet and Weight Watching

· " Organic " and "Health"
Foods and Vegetarian Diet s 2 . 65 ***

Diet in Relation
t o Disease 20 . 9 �* 7 . 72*

Foods My Body Ne eds 21 . 22* 0 . 02 10 . 85 *

Food Safety 0 . 00 4 . 18** 0 . 00 0 . 92

Nutrit ion and Pre·gnancy 2 . 03 0 . 41 4 . 02** 4 . o6.** 2 . 22

Mis cellaneous 9 - 59 * 2 . 79*** 9 . 5 8* 11 . 5 3* 2 . 43 3 . 25***

a .
1 degree of freedom

*p .::. . 00 5 * *p � . 05 ***p � . 10
w
-..J
 of the others . This is not surpris ing in view of the fact that

mis information regarding the positive and negat ive "powers-" of various

foods abounds ( Buchan , 1972 ; USDA , 1964 ; Stevens on , 1965 ) and is trans ­

ferred through gene�ations ( Kolas a , . 1974 ) . Likewi se , teenagers along

_ with the vast maj ority of other p-opulation gr oups ar e confronted with

:reyriad fr agment s of i_nformation and advice from a variety of s ource s

( Bruc h , ·1970 ; Rynearson , 1974 ) . Thus , i n thi s study the finding that

5 8 . 9 percent of the student s were misconceived on 33 perc ent or more

· items in the c atego�y Foods MY Body Needs would be expected .

Fifty percent or more students were misconceived on 33 percent or .

more items in the c ategories of Foods MY Body Needs , Diet and Weight

Watching , and Nutrition . and _ Pregnancy. Moreover , 20 ·percent of all

student s were mi sconceived on at least 33 percent of the items in all

· c ategories .
Percentage s ·. of misconception , c orr ect answer , and gues s responses

to each question on the 56- it e m Food and Nutrit ion Quest ionnaire are pro­

vided in Table 11 , Appendix B . Student s pos se s s ed limited knowledge on

most items contained in the inventory and were substant ially misconceived
on the maj ority · of all items (Table 11 , Appendix B ) • . When mi sc onception

re sponses are c ombined with gue s s responses and c ompared t o the perc entage
of c orr ect responses , the low level of knowledge becomes even more
pronounced .
Some of the most c onunonly held mis c onceptions were : "BreaQ.s and

potatoes are · fatt ening foods " ( subscribed to by 74 . 1 perce !lt of all

· respondent s ) ; "A - C alorie is a substance found in food whi ch c aus e s

 39

gain" ( 5 3 . 0 percent ) ; "Athletes in training require more protein than

less act ive persons of the s ame s ex , age , and body wei ght " ( 71 . 4 pe rcent ) ;

" Sweating from physi cal exerci s e i s a s ign that fat is being burne d off"

( 5 4 . 6 percent ) ; "Any ade quat e di et must cont ain meat as a source of

prot ein" ( 5 3 . 5 percent ) ; "Grapefruit , c ottage cheese , yogurt , lemon juice

and protein bread have pos itive powers t o take · off weigh� " ( 49 . 8 percent ) ;

"C itrus fruits and tomatoe s make the blood acidic " ( 49 . 2 percent ) ;

"Sweet s c aus e adole s c ent acne " (48 . 1 percent ) ; " Saturated f�t s c ontain

mor e C alories than polyuns aturated fat s " ( 48 . 7 percent ) ; and "One gelatin

capsule a day builds stronger fingernails and healthier hair " ( 41 . 6 per­

cent ) .

Gue s s re s pons e s indicate that student s were most uncert ain about

items pert aining to he alth foods : Que st ion number s 1 ( 5 3 . 6 percent , gue s s

re s ponse s ) , 18 ( 46 . 4 pe rcent ) , 38 (67 . 0 perc ent ) ; nutrit ive and caloric

value s of foods : Question numbers 5 ( 56 . 8 perce nt ) , 8 ( 45 . 4 percent ) ,

9 (41 . 1 percent ) , 10 (47 . 6 percent ) , 14 (4 9 . 1 perc ent ) , 45 ( 40 . 6 per cent ) ,

47 ( 56 . 2 percent ) , 50 (43 . 1 perc ent ) ; vitamin and nutrient requirement s :

Que st ion numbers 2 { 59 . 4 per cent ) , 3 ( 60 . 6 percent ) , 19 (45 . 4 percent ) ,

20 ( 68 . 7 pe_r cent ) , 21 ( 61 . 1 perc ent ) , . 23 ( 48 . 0 percent ) , 26- ( 5 5 . 0· percent ) ;
-
and diet and weight watching : Question number s 6 ( 62 . 1 percent ) ·,

30 ( 56 . 9 perce �t ) , 37 ( 68 . 1 percent ) , 39 ( 4 7 . 0 perc ent ) , 54 ( 5 9 . 9 per­

cent ) . It would be expect ed that all of the se topi c s should be covered

in various . science , �ealth , or home economi c s c our s e s . The degree of

doubt c ould be due , however , to c ontradictions in · information generated

by food faddi sts and promoters of health foods , vitamin and mineral
product s , cure- alls , and diet aids ( St evens on , 1965 ; USDA, 1964 ) .
 4o

A maj ority of student s were well informed on such items as : "Two

nutrient s likely to be lacking in the teenag e girl ' s diet are calc ium

and iron". ( 63 . 2 percent c orrect re spons es ) ; "A teenager requires more

C alories than an adult of equal weight and activity" . ( 63 . 2 p ercent ) ; "A

pe anut butter sandwich and glas s of milk i s a good substitute for meat "

( 57 . 3 percent ) ; "A food additive c annot be · approved for use if it is

found t o c ause c ancer when eat en by man or animals " ( 51 . 3 perc ent ) ; " The

great est danger in following fad diet s is that they . may c ause deficienc ies

or imbalance of one or more nutr ient s " ( 68 . 2 perc ent ) ; "Poor diet among

teenage mothers seldom affect s . . their babi es " ( 5 1 . 7 percent ) ; " It is not

harmful to eat milk or fish at the same time i' ( 54 . 6 percent ) ; " Tooth

dec ay i s often · relat ed t o poor food habit s "· ( 74 . 1 percent ) ; " Diabetes in

adult s c an often be· c ontrolled through proper di et " ( 58 . 9 percent ) ;

"Enriched breads and cereals have s ome B vitamins and iron added t o

increase their nutr itive . quality" ( 5 5 . 7 percent ) ; " Several research

studies have indic ated that heart di se ase and high blood pr es sure are

diet related" ( 50 . 3 percent ) ; "Poor nutritional status of pregnant

teenagers is often the cause of c ompl ications during pregnancy

( 54 . 6 percent ) .
It i s evident that items on which the student s s c ored well are not
as emot ionally laden or subj ect to dispute from faddi st s , quacks , or
other s who would exploit for purposes of material gain . The fact that

the teenager is le s s likely to receive "mixed mes s ages " in regard to

.the se items may acc ount for the expre s s ed . confidence in hi s re sponse s .
 41

II . FOOD AND NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE

The mean food and nutri� ion knowledge score for 185 te nth .through

twelfth grade · student s was 17 . 0 ± 7 . 1 with sc ores ranging from 2 to 38

out of a pos s ible 56 point s ( Table 1 , p . 34 ) . The mean s c ore for · female s

was somewhat higher than for males and mean scores increased as the student

moved upward from tenth to . twelfth grade s but the ·differences were not

s ignific ant . This low level of food and nutrition knowledge among high

s chool student s is c ons istent with finding s of Dwyer et al . ( 1970 ) who

noted a grand mean s core of ninth through twelfth grade student s of both
+
s exe s of 5 5 . 9 - 11 . 6 out of a po s s ible 100 point s . Likewise , Kirk

et al . ( 1975 ) found Tennes s ee high school stude·nt s to pos s e s s low levels

of nutrition knowledge which averaged well below national norms .

It was hypothe s ized that training in home economics , health, biology,

and chemi stry would be positively as s ociated with increased knowledge

scores s ince student s should obtain scientific knowledge in the se courses

t o increase food and nutrition knowledge . It may be seen in Table 5 ,

however , that training in home economic s or health was not related s ig-
nific antly t o inc r eased knowledge s c ore s . A . ga.rrrrn a test of as s o c i at i on
performed on the data revealed a moderate positive as s oc i ation between
nutrition knowledge and training in chemi stry ( y =: +0 . 37' ) and biology
( y = +0 . 38 ) .

It is pos sible that the more academic ally oriented students do not

enroll in home ec onomics c our s e s and those who do often are non-c ollege

bound student s who would . not be expected to score high on academic test s .

. Als o , those student s with more training in chemistry and biology would be
 42
expected to pos s e s s general sc ient ific knowledge which could be re adily

applied t o the area of food and nutr it ion . The low as sociation between

training in the ar ea of he alth and food and nutrition knowledge is sur-

pr is ing but also was noted by Kirk et al . (1975 ) . It is pos sible that

health teachers lack suffic ient tr aining in the sc ient ific - disciplines

and could be respons �ble for imparting mis c onc eptions . Reynolds (1960 )

found a mean sub scription of 12 .18 to 71 harmful health mi sconcept ions

among high school coaches and phys ical educators , . tho se typically

re sponsible for he alth education (l:funt s inger , · 1971 ) .

Table 5 . Degree . of association between food and nutrition knowledge

s c ores and number of cours es in four subject matter areas

Subj ect
2 p
Matter Area X d . f. Gamma

Home Economic s 16 . 72 12 . 16 +0 . 01

Chemistry · 11 . 49 6 . 07 +0 . 37

Bi ology 22 . 44 9 . 01 +0 . 38

Health 12 . 07 12 . 44 +0 . 17

Since s ignificant difference s were not ob served in knowle'dge s c ores

for e ach grade level , it might · be concluded that food and nutrit ion
knowledg e incr eas e s with increased exposure to s c ientific information

c onveyed through such cour s e s as chemi stry and biology r ather than
_
through increased educ ation at the high school level per se . This c on-

elusion is further substanti ated in that health education is required of

all student s in the pre sent study and the number of c ourses in he alth
.e duc �tion would be directly relat ed therefore to number of years in school .

Future research should seek t o establi sh whether food and nutrition

knowledge of student s · pursuing a c ollege-bound c our s e of study differ s

from non c ollege-bound . student s . Als o , it should be determined whether

c ollege-bound student s ' nutrition knowledge increas es as they progres s

upward through grade s regardle s s of training in chemi stry and biology .

III . F OOD AND NUTRITION-RELATED INTERESTS

Previous studies pertaining to teenage food and nutrition-related

interest s ( Orr � 1965 ; Dwyer et al . , 1970 ; Kirk et al . , 1975 ) ; have led

the authors to c onclude that c ompared t o other areas of health, nutrition

i s of little or no interest to thi s age gr oup . Thu s , the re sults of the

pres ent study were surpris ing . As was hypothe s ized , numerous t opics

within the broad area of food and nutrition were intere st ing

t o a maj ority of the student s studied . Twenty- one out of twenty-eight

topics c overed in the intere st inventory (Appendix A ) were rat ed by

50 ·percent or more student s as " extremely" or · "very" intere st ing

(Table 6 ) . Moreover , the lowest ranking topic of interes t , "veget arian
diet s , " was c ons idered " extremely" or "very" · interesting by 20 percent of
the students . Approximat ely 70 to 80 perc ent of all student s studied

agreed that the t opic s of " exercise and food needs , " ! ' foods my body

needs , " " diet in relati on to c omplexion , hair and nails , ," ngaining · and

los ing weight , " and "how smoking , alc ohol and drugs are related t o food

needs and nutritional status " were " extremely" or "very intere sting . "
 44

Table 6 . An item analysi s of food and nutrit ion-relat ed . interest

responses in order of preference for 185 · lOth, 11th , and 12th
grade students

Number of Re s�ons e s Percent

"Extremely Very of Total
Item Int eresting" Interesting" Students Rank

Exerci se and
food needs 75 68 78 . 6 1

Foods my body needs So 6o 76 . 5 2

Diet in relation to
c omplexion , hair
· and nails 90 47 74 . 5 3

Gaining or lo sing weight 86 44 70 . 7 4

How smoking , alc ohol and

drugs are related t o food
needs and nutritional
st atus 85 42 69 . 8 5

Growth and development 61 59 66 . 7 6

Caus es of overwe ight ·

and underweight 68 48 64 . 1 7

Diet in relation
to cancer 73 43 8

Nutrition and
dental health 67 49 8

Safety of U . S . food supply 66 48 9

Health hazards with food

preparat�on and handling 62 52 62 . 3 9

Cause s of tooth dec ay 60 50 60 . 1 10

How diet during

pregnancy affect s offspring 75 35 60 . 1 10

Need for vitamins 48 59 59 . 1 ll

 45 .

Table 6 ( c ontinued )

Number of ResEonses Percent

"Extremely "Very of Total
Item Int ere.s ting" Int eresting " Student s Rank

Safe st age t o
have a baby 69 35 57 . 1 . 12

Feeding infant s
and · children 76 28 57 .1 12 .

Food preparation 46 57 56 . 6 13

Diet in relation
· to heart disease 55 47 55 . 4 i4

World food supply 42 54 52. 7 15

What funct ions foods c an

and c annot perform in
the body 41 54 52 . 2 16 .

Breast vs bottle feeding 65 27 50 . 3 17

Diet in relation
t o diabetes 45 43 48 . 1 18

Health foods 35 41 41 . 8 19

Reli ability of food and

nutr it ion information 25 50 41 . 2 20

Di et in relation t o colds 29 44 40 . 1 21
Energy metabolism 25 38 34 . 6 22

Fad diet s 19 29 26 . 1 23

Vegetarian diet s . 18 19 20 . 1 24
 When me an r�sponses we re broken down ac cording to sex ( T able 7 ) ,

few pronounced diffe renc es are evi dent . As would be expected in light

of · cultural norms , gi rls were clearly mo re interested in the relationship

. . .

between diet . and complexion , hai � , and nails , gaining or losing wefght ,

causes . of overwe ight and underweight ; how. diet affects offspring , safe st

age to have a baby , feeding infants and children , and breast vs bottle

.fe eding . They also we re interested mo re in health foods and vegetarian

di ets . Interestingly, only a slight di ffe rence · existed between boys '

and gi rls' inte rest ratings for the topic o f "food preparation . "

Boys we re slightly more interested in growth and development ,

safety of the . u. s.
food supply, need for vitamins , world food supply,
_
reliability of food and nutrition information, and energy metaboli sm.

With the exc eption of the preceding six items , girls rat ed all of the

food and nutrition- related topics somewhat higher than boys .

other autho rs have found interest among teenage rs in specific food

and nutrition topics . Dwye r et al . ( 1970 ) reported that responses to

· open-·ended quest ionnaires indicated that teenage boys and girls were

intere sted in we ight loss and diet ing , . proper foods to eat for a well-
balanced diet, and effects of defici enc ies and exce sse s of nut ri ents on
the body . The students indicated lack of intere st in " Calories , "
nutrient compo sition of foods , detailed di scussion of vitamins , the
anatomy of digestion and absorption, and ove remphasi s on the Basic Four .

Girls in general found nutri ti o.n more inte resting �han boys . D ow e ll

(1966 ) f ound sec ondary student s conc erned about dental .problems , acne ,
and overwe ight although general intere st in foods and nutritional needs
 · 47

Table 7 . Mean respons es of boys and girls t o 28 food and nutr it ion­
related interest topic s

a
Mean
Males Females Total
Item N=90 N=94 N=l84

Exerci s e and food needs 2 . 08 1 . 73 1 . 9J

Foods my body needs 2 . 07 1 . 81 1 . 93

Diet in relat ion to complexion ,

hair and nails 2 . 39 1 . 55 1 . 96

Gaining or los�ng weight 2 . 42 1 . 73 2 . 07

How smoking , a;t c ohol·, and drugs

are related t"o food needs and
nutritional st atus 2 . 15 1 . 97 2 . 05

Growth and development 2 . 07 2 . 22 2 . 14

C aus e s of overwe ight and

underweight 2 . 52 1 . 99 2 . 25

Diet in . relatlon to cancer 2 . 44 2 . 13 2 . 28

Nutrition and dental he alth 2 . 33 2 ·. 08 2 . 21

S afety of U. S . food supply 2 . 18 2 . 31 2 . 24

He alth hazards with food

preparat ion and handling 2 . 29 2 . 08 2 . 18

C auses of t ooth dec ay . 2 . 36 2 . 22 .2 . 29

How diet during pregnancy

affect s offspring 2 . 88 1 . 76 2 . 30

Need for vitamins 2 . 31 2 . 36 2 . 33

Safest age to have a baby · 2 . 91 1 . 91 2 . 40

Feeding infant s and . children 3 . 01 1 . 82 2 . 40

Food prep�ration 2 . 51 2 . 38 . 2 . 44
 48

Table 7 ( cont inued )

Mean a
Males Females Total
Item N=90 N=94 N=l84

Diet in relation to
heart disease . 2 . 54 2 . 40 2 . 47
World food supply 2 . 49 2 . 61 2 . 55
What functions foods c an and
cannot perform in the body 2 . 64 2 . 59 2 . 62
Breast vs b ottle feeding 3 . 03 2 . 32 2 . 67

Diet in relation to diabetes 2 . 93 2 . 66 2 . 79

Reliab ility of food and
nutrition informat ion 2 . 83 3 . 01 2 . 92

Health foods 3 . 16 2 . 62 2 . 88

Diet in relation to c olds 3 . 04 2 . 74 2 . 89

Energy met aboli sm 2 . 83 3 . 18 3 . 01

Fad diet s 3 . 82 3 . 52

Vegetarian di ets 4 . 07 3 . 36 3 . 71

a
Numer ical value s fr om which means were derived were · l ( extremely
interesting ) , 2 (very interest ing ) , 3 ( moderately interest ing ) ,
4 ( slightly interest ing ) , 5 ( not at all int ere sting ) .
 49

was low. Girls worried more about health problems and were more inter­

ested in health than were boys . Lantagne ( 19 5 2 ) found girl s mor e

intere sted in nutrition than boys , but overall interest in nutrit ion was

. low among the 10 , 000 . se c ondary school student s studied . Neverthele s s ,

topic s c oncern� ng problems of tooth dec ay , effect s of tea and c offee ,

pregnancy and health , sweets and dental de cay , breast or ·b ottle · feeding ,

. the s chool lunch ; health hazards with foods , foc;>d during pr egnancy, heart
disease , and nutr ition and overweight were felt to be interest ing by a

maj ority of the student s .

IV . FOOD AND NUTR ITION INFORMATION SOURCES

The most frequently indicated sourc es of information among teenager s

for the various c ategories of food and nutrit ion information are given

in Table 8 . For all but one c ategory of information , i . e . , Organic and

Health Foods , students most frequently indicated that the information

s ourc e s . most often used in the past were p arents and medic al doctors or

nurses . Informat ion - regarding the two ar eas in which teenagers held the

greatest proportion of mis c onceptions , Diet and Weight-Watching and Foods

MY Body Needs , was most frequently oftained from parent s in 46 and

40 percent of the c as es , respectively . Medic al doctors or nur ses were

mo st frequently mentioned as sources of informat ion on Diet and Weight ­
Watching ( 1.3 perc ent of stude.nt s responding ) and . Foods :My . Body Ne eds
( 2 3 perc ent ) . Dietitians and nutritioni st s served as most fre quently

used s ource s of information on Diet and Weight-Watching and Food Prepara­

t ion for 11 percent of the student s , and high s chool teachers were
 50

Table 8 . First , second and third most frequently indic ated first-choic e
information s ources of 185 teenagers for 8 c ategories of food
and nutr it ion information

Tot al
C at egory First­
of Choice
Information Responses Information Source

Diet and magazine s ( 18 )

Weight di�ti tian or
Watching M. D . · or nurse ( 22 ) nutrit ionist (18)

Organic arid parent ( 26 ) .

Health Foods 164 magazine s ( 31 ) M. D . or nur se ( 26 ) _T . V . or radi o ( 22 )

Vegetarian M. D . or
Diet s 15 9 nur se ( 31 ) parent ( 28 ) T . V . o r radio ( 20 )

Diet in
Relation M . D . or high school
to Di sease 162 nurse ( 5 7 ) parent ( 32 ) teacher ( 22 )

Foods My high s chool

Body Needs 167 parent (67 ) M. D . or nur se ( 39 ) te acher ( 23 )
high s chool
Food S afety 164 • parent ( 46 ) M. D . or nur se ( 31 ) teacher ( 22 )

Nutr ition and M. D . or · popular books on

Pregnancy 15 9 nurse ( 5 9 ) parent ( 41 ) nutriti on ( 12 )

Food dieti ti an or
Preparation 166 parent ( 97 ) nutr itioni st ( 19 ) M D
. . or nurse (13 )
aNumber of student s indic ating fir st choice information s ource .

indic ated as most frequent s ources of information on Foods My Body Needs

by 14 perc ent of the student s .

High s chool teacher s also figured s ig.n ificantly as · sourc es of
.
information for the c ategories of Di et in Relation to Disease ( 14 p e rc ent
 51

of tot al responses ) and Food Safety ( 13 percent ) . Magazines were

indicated by 19 percent of the student s to be the mo st fr equent

informat ion source on Organic and Health Foods and by ll perc ent of the

student s as the mo st frequently us ed information source on Diet and .

Weight Wat ching .

Communications regarding food and nutrition through books , televi sion ,

or radio were not frequently ment ioned by the teenager s . Popular books

on nutrit ion were frequently used by only 8 percent o f the student s to

obt ain informat ion on Nut rit ion and Pregnancy and televi sion and radio

were used by 13 perc ent of the students to obt ain information on Organic ·

and Health Foods and by 12 · percent for information on Vegetarian Diet s .

Stat istical c omparison by chi - s quare of first- choice information

s ourc es of boys and girls revealed significant difference s for several

categories of in�ormation (Table 9 ) . Differences were significant for

the c at eg ?ries of Diet and Weight-Watching ( P 2 . 02 ) , Organic and He alth

Foods ( P 2 . 01 ) , and Vegetarian Diet s ( P 2 . 08 ) . Inspection of Table s 12-

19 , Appendix B , wherein the frequenc ies of first- choice information

source s are given, reveals that for the category of Diet and Weight ­
Watching girl s relied on friends to a far greater extent than did . boys
( Table 12 ) . For the c at � gory of Organic and Health Foods (Table 1 3 ) boys
more frequently used parents and girls reli ed more on medical doctors or

nur s e s . Girls ·als o read · more popular books on nutrition to obtain

information in thi s area.

In the area of Veget arian Diet s girls relied on popular books on
nutrit ion and dieti tians and nutr itioni st s more s o than did boys wher eas
 52

· boys more frequently mentioned me dical doctors or nurses · ( Table 14 ,

Appendix B ) .

Table g . C ompari s on by sex and grade of first .· choice information sources

for 8 c ategories o f food and nutrition information

Cat egory of Sex a Gradeb

Information 2 p p
X x2

Diet and Weight Watching 17 . 45 . 02 24 . 91 . 07

Organic and Health Foods 20 . 05 . 01 15 . 80 · . 47

Vegetarian Diet s . 13 . 85 . 08 28 . 13 . 03

Diet in Relation
to· . Di sease 7 . 68 . 46 17 . 5 3 . 35

Foo ds :rey- Body Ne eds 8 . 87 . 35 15 . 28 . 50

Food Safety 8 . 18 . 41 13 . g5 . 60

Nutrition and Pregnancy 12 . 90 . 11 26 . 93 . 04

Food Preparation 11 . 27 . 19 1 3 . 06 . 66

ad . f . equal s 8 .

b
d . f . equals 16 .

Chi - square value s for the compari s on of information s ources for the
various c ategorie s among grade levels also are shown in Table g .· Differ-
enc e s were s ignificant at the . 07 level for Diet and Weight Watching ,

. 03 level ·for Vegetarian Diets , and . 04 level for Nutrition and Pregnancy .

Re sponses are tallied for each category of information and tabled in

.Appendix B , Tables 12-lg .

For the c ategory of Diet and Weight Watching ( Table 12 , Appendix B )

tenth grade pupils · more frequently relied on p arent s ( 50 percent of total

 53
.
re sponses ) , medi c al doctors or nurses ( i6 percent ) and fr iend s
( 1 2 perc ent ) ; eleventh grade pupils relied o n parent s ( 39 perc ent ) ,
·

medic al do ctors or nur se s ( 17 percent ) , and magaz ine s ( 13 perc ent ) ; and
· twelfth grade student s relied mo st frequently on parents ( 47 perc e�t ) ,

magazine s ( 18 perc ent ) ' and dietitian-s or nutrit ioni sts ( 14 per cent ) .

For the c at egory of Vegetari an Diet s ( Table 14 , Appendix B ) t enth

grade pupils mo st fr equently l i sted me di cal doctors or nur s e s ( 30 per cent

of total respons es ) , t �levis ion or radio advert is ements ( 17 perc ent ) and

parent s ( 13 perc ent ) as compared to eleventh grade pupil s who reported

parent s ( 1 8 perc ent ) , medic al doctors or nurses ( 1 5 perc ent ) , televis ion

or radio advert is ement s ( 1 5 perc ent ) , and maga zine s ( 1 5 perc ent ) and

twelfth grade pupils who reported parent s ( 24 percent ) , di etitians or

nutritioni sts ( 18 _ perc ent ) and friends ( 16 percent ) .

Mo st frequently ment ioned informat ion sourc e s for the category of

Nutrit ion and Pregnancy ( Table 18 , Appendix B) were medi cal doctor s or

nur s e s ( 39 percent ) , parents ( 14 percent ) , and t elevis ion or radio

advert i s ement s ( 13 percent ) for tenth gr ade pupils ; medic al doctors or

nurs e s ( 41 percent ) , parents ( 32 percent ) , and popular books on nutrition

( 9 perc ent ) for eleventh grade student s ; and parent s ( 36 perc ent ) ,

medical doctors or nurs es ( 29 percent ) , and hi gh school teachers

. ( 1� perc ent ) for twelfth grade pupil s .

v·. ASS OCIATION BETWEEN MISCONCEPTION SC ORE

AND INFORMATION SOURCE

In order to explore the pos s ibility that mi s c onc eptions were

as soci ated wit;h a particular information source , two .c ompar isons by

chi- square · were made . Sinc e the only -s ignifi c ant di fferenc e s in

mi s conc ept ion s c ore s for the popul at ion t e st e d exi st ed among s chool s , it

wa s hypothe s i z e d th.at if mi s concept ions were r elat ed to informat ion

sourc e then info rmat ion sourc e s fo r the various c at egor i e s o f fo od and

nut r it ion informat ion al so would differ among scho ols . However , when the

var i able s , infor�t i on . s our c e and s chools , we re c ro s s -t abulat ed and the

dat a subj e c t e d to ch i - s quar e no s i gnifi c ant relat ionships wer e ob s erved .

Furthennor e , when t o t al mi s concept ion s c or es we re cro s s -t abul at ed with

info rmat ion s our c e s r e sult s o f a chi- s quar e t e st r eveal ed that , with the

exc ept ion of the c at egory D i et and .We ight Wat ching , total mi s conc ept ion

s c or e s wer e not di ffer ent fr om what would be expect ed by chanc e for any

parti cular information s ourc e .

VI . AS SOC IATION BETWEEN .MISC ONCEPTION SC ORE

AND DEGREE OF INTEREST

S everal author s have not ed t he relationship b etween degr e e of

int e r e s t and learning ( Bremer and Weatherholz , 197 5 ; Orr � 196 5 ; Sh ipman
.
and McC annon , 1964 ) . Dwyer et al . (197 0) , however , found that t he topi c s

r elat ing . t 6 food and · nutr it i on in whi c h t he s tudent s expre s s e d the mo st

i nt e re s t were t he one s they knew least ab out . It was b el i eved that thi s

inc ons i st ency might he due to the prevalence of mi s c onceptions rather t han

t o t ot al lack of knowledg e . Henc e , in the pre s ent study it was hypothe-

s i z ed that high int er e st i :q a t op i c would incr e a s e exp o sure t o c ommunic a-

t ions regarding that t op i c and would ther e f ore lead to incr e a s e d learning .

Thus , if the informat ion gained wer e errone ous there should theoreti c ally
 55
b e a p o s itive a s s oci ati on be twe en numb e r o f mi s c onc ept i on s and d-egr ee
of

inter e st .

For two c at e g or i e s of mi s c onc eption s and int ere st s , Foods My Body

Needs and Mi s c ell aneou s , it was found t hat high mi s c oncept i on s were

mod erately a s s o c i ated wi th high int er e st a s indic ated by a g amma t e s t of

a s s oc i ation ( Table 10 ) .

T able 10 . Degree of as s oc i ation betwe en mi s c oncept ion s c ore and degr e e

o f intere st b y c at e gory

C at egory of Mi s c onc ept i on

and Int e r e st
2 d.f. p Gannn a
X

Diet and Weight Wat ching 0 . 27 2 0 88

.• +0 . 04

· Organi c and He alth Food s

and Veget arian Diet s 0 . 05 1 0 . 83 +0 . 06

D i et in Relat ion to D i s e a s e 3 . 04 3 0 . 38 +0 . 14

Foods My Body Ne eds 9 . 27 3 0 . 02 +0 . 34

· Food S afety 0 . 27 3 0 . 96 +0 . 01

Nutr it ion and Pregnancy 1 . 01 3 o . 8b -0 . 06

Mi s c e llane ous 7 . 23 3 0 . 06 +0 . 20
 CHAPTER V

C ONCLUS IONS AND IMPLICATIONS

I. C ONC LUSIONS

As was hypothes ized , mi sconceptions relating to food and nutr ition

were prevalent among te enagers in thi s study . Degree of subscription to

mi sconceptions was not signific antly different for boys and girls , nor for

the various grade levels . Not only were the students . sub stantially mi scon­

ceived on a number of items but they als o pos s es s ed a high level of unc er­

t ainty and a low level of food and nutrition knowledge . It was found that

the te enager ' s level of knowledge of food and nutrition did not ne c e s s arily

c orrelate with the ext ent of his formal training in the area , as was

hypothes i zed . Knowledge s c ores did increas e with increased instruction in

chemi stry and biology ; however, student s apparently did not receive ·s uffi­

cient facts in home economi c s and health educati on c ourses t o signific antly

increase knowledge s c ores .

As hypothesized , certain topics within the area of food and nutrition

wer e of more intere st t o teenager s than were other · t opi c s , but teenagers
expressed c ons iderable interest · in most food and nutr ition-related topi c s
c overed i n thi.s study . Girls generally were · more inter est ed in the topics
than boys , but the differences were · slight � High interest in mis c ellaneous

topic s and items pertaining. to foods needed by the body were a s s ociated
positively with high mis c onceptions in thes e · categories .

S ources of information other than recognized expert s were. ut ilized by

the teenagers in this study . Parents most frequently supplied information
 57

on the topi c s ' ' in which the 'student s were subst ant ially · mor'e mis c onceived , '

i . e . , Diet and Weight -Watching and Foods My Body Need s . In . fact , informa­

tion on all· of the various food and · nutrition categories was most frequently

obt ained from parent s and medical doctors and nurs es . Peers and the media

played a le s s s ignific ant role than the other · informat ion sources for all ·

categories of information . Boys: and girls di ffered signifi cantly in the ir

information sources for topic s dealing with Diet and Weight -Watching ,

Organic and Health Foods , and Veget arian Diet s , and signific ant differences

were obs erved among grade levels for the categori es of Diet and We ight ­

Watching � · Vegetarian Diet s , and Nutrition and Pregnancy . No differences

were observed , however , ' among schools . Th� only category for which a

particular information s ource was as s ociated with. number of mis c onceptions

in that c ategory was Diet and Weight -Wat ching .

It was hypothes ized that the teenage student would subscribe to more

misconceptions relat ing to those t opi c s in whi ch he is most interested .

· For two categories of mi sconceptions � i . e . , Mi s cellaneous and Foods · My

Body · Needs , this was found t o b e true . High interest did , in fact , lead

to more mi sconceptions in the s e c ategorie s .

II . IMPLICATIONS

Critical defic ienc ies in the nutr it ion education of teenagers are
sugge sted by re sults of thi s study and other s ( Kirk et al . , 1975 ; Dwyer

et al . , 1970 ) . Not only are teenagers not knowledgeable in regard to

food and nutrition but their reliance on mi sinformation is sub stantial �

Teenager s mus't be provided with empirically grounded information on

'
 58
which t o base dec i s ions regarding the ir nutrition . The proliferation of
mi s information and c ontradiction of s cientific fact s from a variety of

s ources c ompounds the problem of educating thi s age group as well as

others .

It is important t o ascertain those topic s on which the teenager i s

mi sinformed i n order t o c ounter fallacies with facts . Re cognition of the

types of food and nutr ition mi sconceptions held by the teenager should

enable educator s to plan learning experienc es _ to diminish these mi scon­

ceptions . Hence , an as s e s sment of _ the student s ' current knowledge and

areas of high mi s c onceptions should prec ede . the inst igation of any

nutrition education program.

Likewi se , it · i s important to rec ognize what aspect s of food and

nutrition are of interest or c oncern to the teenager . Individuals are

more likely to seek out and learn about those topic s in which they are

intere sted . In the pre sent study , interest was found t o be a factor. in
· the acquisition of erroneous information . Faddi sts and quacks have

· c ont inually captured the attention of their audiences through preying on

c onc erns and c apitalizing on intere sts . Thus it i s the respons ibility
of the nutrition educat or to see that valid informat ion on the se t opic s
i s proffered by reliable s ourc e s in order that all population groups
might be c apable of as s e s s ing their pre sent beli efs . The deveiopment of
programs which inspire interest in teenagers , ar e relevant to their needs

and c oncerns , and incorpor ate the realit ies of teenage diet ary patter_ns

should improve the environment for c onstruct ive change , the ult imate goal

of nutrition - educ ation .

 59

. Ideally , nutr it ion educat i on s hould begin e arly in li fe in the home ,

but at thi s point in t ime it al s o i s important to begin providing infor ­

mati on through a mec hani sm whi ch will b ene fit all s tudents , not j ust

tho s e pur suing s c i e�tific fields of s tudy .

Te enager s in thi s study r eported that they mo st · often obt ained

information on topic s of food and nutrition · from parent s and th o s e in

the medical pro_fe s s ions . A study of 3 , 600 homemaker s acros s the Unit ed

. St at e s reve aled . that 25 perc.ent of the r e spondent s l e arned ab out nutr it ion

fr om their mot hers or grandmother s . Thirty p er c ent of the homemaker s

· obt ained their information from newspaper s or magaz ine art i cl e s ( Walker ,

1975 ) , the maj or ity of which no doubt were writt en by . s elf -pr oclaimed

expert s on nutrition many of whom are members of the. medical profe s s ion

and thr ough the nature of the ir title symbol i z e author ity . The fact that

little as s ociation · was ob s erved in thi s study b etwe en any p articular

information s our ce and numb er of mi s c onc epti ons leads· . to the c onclusion

that no one informat�on s our c e may be part i cula�ly good or bad but that

the quality of information obt aine d from the various s ourc e s depends on

the knowle dg e ability ' of the indivi dual s our c e .

It s eems . f e a s ible that nutrition educ at i on should be approached

fr om two fronts , the home and the s c hool s . Nutr it ion educat ion must

r e ach t oday ' s homemaker as well as thos e of t omorrow . In the words of

Dwyer et . al . ( 1970 ) " nutriti onally illit erate adole s c ent s s oon b e c ome

nutrit ionally illiterat e adult s and the improvement of nutrit ion educat ion

in the s c hools s e ems t o b e a mo st s en s ib�e and ec onomic al means of inter­

vening in the cycle . "

 60

Furthermore , it behoove s the profe s si on to c ampaign vigorously

against those re spons ible for proliferating fals e nutritional and health

c laims and to initiate regulatory programs t o protect c onsumer s of all

ages .

Nutrit ion educ ation_ programs must provide not only reliable

informat ion but , most importantly , they must lead to improved food

related .behavior . It has been shown that increased knowledge does not

lead nec e s s arily to behavioral change ( Schwart z , 1976 ) . Walker ( 1975 )

als o found that homemakers pos s e s sed a fair knowledge of food and nutrit ion
fact s but they d � d not use their knowledge in selecting foods for a

de sirable food · intake . ·· Future research should be · directed t oward

development of means whereby knowledge of food and nutr it ion increas es

in c onjunction with the applic ation of the knowledge to the improvement

of dietary habit s , not a small ord�r for nutr ition educ ators .
REFERENCES
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·

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Jals o , S . B . , Burns , M. M. and · Rivers , J . M. 1965 . Nutr itional beliefs

and pr acti c e s . J . Amer . Di etet . As soc . 47 : 263 .

Kilander , H . F . 1964 . The public ' s b elie f in nutrit ional facts an·d
fallac ie s . J . Sch . Health 34 : 218 .

Kirk , R . H . , Hamrick , · M. and McAfee , D . C . 1975 . Nutr ition in health.

instruction : the Tenne s s ee · health education proj ect . J . Nutr .
Educ . 7 ( 2 ) : 68 .

Knoxville School Admini stration . 1976 . Reque st Board Approval of 1976-

77 . PL93- 380 , Title I, Pr oj ect 77 . 01 Application .
 64 .

Kolas a , K . M. 1974 . Foodways of selected mothers and the ir adult

daught er s in upper East Tenne s s ee . Unpubli shed Ph . D . the s is , Univ .
of Tenne s s ee , Knoxville , Tenn .

Lantagne , J . E . 1952 . Health int ere s t s of 10 , 000 s econdary school

student s . The Res . Quart . 23 : 330 .

Levert on , R . M. · 1968 . The paradox . of _ teenage nutr it ion . J . Amer .

Dietet . As s oc . 53 : 1 3 .

Litman , T . J . , Cooney , J . P . and Stief , R . 1964 . The vi.ew s of Minne sota

school children on food . J. AIDer . Dietet . As s oc . 45 : 433 .

McCarthy , M. E . · and Sabry , J . H . 1973 . Canadi an univers ity students '

nutrition mi sconceptions . J . Nutr . Educ . 5 ( 3 ) : 193 .

· McElroy, J . and Taylor , B . 1966 . Adole s c ents ' value s in s election of

food . J. Home Econ � 58( 8 ) : 651 .

New , P . K . · and Pr ie·st , R . P . 1967 . Food and thought : a s oc iologi c al

study of ·food cultists . J . Amer . Diet et . As s oc . 51 : 13 .

Nie , N . H. , Hull , C . H . , Jenkins , J . G . , Steinbrenner , K . and Bent , D . H .

1976 . "Stat i s:tical Package for the Soci al S c ienc e s , " McGraw-Hill
Publ . Co . , New York , N . Y.

Orr , 0 . P. 1965 . . An evaluation of he alth interests and he alth needs

as bas ic premi ses in selecting he alth content in sec ondary schools
of Knoxvi lle , Tenne s see . Unpubli shed Ph . D . the s i s , Univ . of
Tenne s s e e , Knoxville , Tenn .

Osman , J . D . 1967 . Nutrit ion mi sconcepti on s of college subj ect s .

Unpublished M. S . the s i s , Univers ity of Maryl and , College Park , Md .

Reynolds , W . J . 1960 . A det erminat ion of the pr evalence of certain

harmful healt h misconc eption s among high school coache s and physical
educ ator s in Ma s s achusett s . Unpubl ished M. S . the s i s , Bosto� Univ. ,
Bo ston , Mas s .

Robb ins , c·. E . . 1972 . Ten- stat e nutrition survey : educational implica­
tions . J . Nutr . Educ . 4 (4 ) : 157 .

Ryne ar s on, E . B . 1974 . Ameri cans love hogwash . Nutr .. Rev . 32

( suppl . 1 ) : 1 .

Schorr , B . C . , S anjur , D . and Eri cks on , E . C . 1972 . Teen- age food

habit s . J . Amer . Di e t et . As s oc . 61 : 415 ·.

S chwart z , N . E . 1975 . Nutritional knowledge , att itude s , and pr actices

of high school graduat e s . · J . Amer . Di etet . Assn . 66 : 28 .
 Schwart z , N . E . 1976 . Nutrition knowledge , attitude s and pr acti c e s of
C anadi an public health nur s e s . J·. Nutr . Educ . 8 ( 1 ) -: 28 .

Shipman , J . A . and McCannon , · N . R . 1964 . Urbanites must be approached

through recogniz ed informat ion sourc e s . J . Home Econ . 56 ( 10 ) : 744 .

Sieg , A . 1971 . Why adole scence oc cUrs � Adole s c enc e 6 ( 2.2 ) : 337 .

Singlet on , N . C . 1974 . Adequacy of the diet s of pregnant teenagers :

educational , nutrit ional, and s oc ioe conomic factors . Unpubli shed
Ph . D . the s i s , Loui s iana St . Univ. , Baton Rouge , La .

S ipple , H . 1. 1964 . Combatting nutrition mi s informat ion through

c oordinat ed progr ams . Amer . J . Pub . Health 54 : 823 .

Sliepcevich , E . M . 1964 . School health educ ation study : summary report·

of a nat ionwide study of health instruction in the public schools .
SchOol Health Education Study , Washington , D . C .
. .

Spindler , E . B . and Acker , G . 1963 . Teen- agers tell us about their

nutr it ion . J . Amer . · Dietet . As s oc . 43 : 22 8 .

Stevens on , E . H . 1965 . · Nutrition nonsense . In "Ye arbook of Agriculture ,

1965 , " U . S . Govt . Prntg . Off . , Washington , D . C .

) Sutton, W . C . 1962 . Misconceptions about health among children and

youth . J . Sch. Health 32 : 347 .

Swedi sh Nutrition · Foundation . 1969 . "Food Cult i sm and Quackery, " · .

VIII Sympos ium, Swedi sh Nutrition Foundation , Upp sala , Sweden .

Thornburg , H. 1970 . Adolescence : a reinterpretation . Adole s cence

5 (20 ) : 463 .

U . S . Department of Agriculture . 1964 . Food fac t s vs food fallac ie s .

Natl . Re s Bull 14 : 8 .
• . • .

Walker , M. A. . 1975 . Homemaker s ' food and . nutrit ion knowledge - ­

·

implications for nutr it ion education . Nutr . Prog . News , May- June : l .

vl warren , R . and Specht , D . 1970 . Scaling of Sociological Data . Seminar .

,., ... Iowa St at e . Univers ity, Ames , Iowa .

Wang , V . 1. 1971 . Food i:q.formation of homemakers and 4-H youths .

J . Amer . Dietet . As s oc . 5 8 : 215 .

Weiner , I . B . 1971 . The generat ion gap - - fact or fancy? Adole s c ence
6 ( 22 ) : 155 .
 66

Wh it e , P. L . 1973 . The per fe ct envi ronment ·for nons en s e . Nutr .

News 3 6 ( 3 ) : 9 .

Will i ams , L . M . 1956 . Criti cal s tudy of some health mi � conc epti ons held
by 9t h , lOth , 11th , and 12th grade pupils in Eastman Hi gh School , .
Enfeld , North Carolina . Unpubl i shed M . S . the s i s , North Carol ina
College , Durham , N . C .

Wi lson , M . M � and Lamb , M . W . 1968 . Food beli efs as relat e d to

ecologi cal factor s in women . J . Home Econ . 60 ( 2 ) : 11 5 .

Wyman , J . R . 1972 . Teenager s and food : the ir eat ing habit s . Food
and Nut r . 2(1) :3.
· APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
 Lois Ann Wodarski Food Sc ie�ce , Nutr ition , and Food Systems Admini strat ion .
Ann Bas s . Colleg e of Home · Economic s
Fall , 197 5 Univers ity of Tenne s s e e , Krioxville
.
Dire ct ions : Please mark the c orrect re spons e by . putt ing an "X"0 i zi the appropriate box .
· Ignore the numbers in parenthe ses ; the ir purpo se i s for C OmPUter coding only .

Que stionna ir e number

DODD ( l- 4 )

LW BASS ( 5 -10)

0'\
Grade Level ·
UDD ( 12- 13 )

\0. 10 ll 12

Sex ( mark "M" for �ale , "F" for female )

UD ( 14 )

M F
(1) (2)

Would you like to lose weight ?

UD ( 15 )

ye s no
(l ) (2 )

Would you like. to gain weight ?

no ( 16 )

ye s no
(l) ( 2)
 D
How many c our ses in high school home ec onomic s have you had ?
( 17 - 18 )
( pleas e c ount those pre sently enrolled in )

D
How many high school chemistry c our s e s have you had ?
(19- 20 )
( please count those pr esently enrolled in )

D
How many high school biology cour s es have you had?
( 21- 22 )
( ple as� c ount those pre s ently enrolled in )

D
How many high school health educ at ion courses have you had ?
( 2 3- 24 )
( ple ase count tho�e presently enrolled in )

-...:]
0
 The following are statement s about food and nutr ition . Read each st atement . Circle "T "
( true ) if you believe the st atement i s true . C ircle "F " ( false ) if you believe the statement is
false . Once you have made thi s de cis ion , indicate your degree of certai�ty by circling one of the
number s which appears to the right of eac h stat ement . If you are very strongly certain about your
answer , circle "1" . If you are very doubtful about your answer , c ircle " 5 " . For some statement s ,
the numbers 2 , 3 , or · 4 ·may · better de scribe the certainty of your answer t o the statement . When
this i s the cas e , c ircle the appropr iate number .
For example , c ons ider the st atement :
"The flag of the U . S . i s red , white , and blue . " T F 1 2 3 4 5

Is the statement T ru e ( Fals e ) ? C ircle "T" ( "F " ) . How c ertain are you of this answer?
C irc le the appropr iate number . Please be sure to c ircle both a letter and a number after each
statement : Ignore numbers in parenthe s e s ; their purpose is for c omputer c oding only .
r-1
1=1 �
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� +'
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1. Organically grown vegetable s are ri cher in vitamins T F 1 2 · 3 4 5 ( 26- 27 )
than those gr own by convent ional means .

2. S ince vit amins are nutr ient s which our bodie s must have , T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 28- 29 )
it c annot be - harmful to take vitamin supplement s just to
make certain we get enough .

3. Vit amin E deficiency produc e s sympt oms of mus cular T F 1 2 3 4 5 (30- 3 1 )

dystrophy in rats so it is s afe to as sume that the
same would appiy to humans .

j4 . Two nutrient s likely to be lacking in the teenage T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 32- 3 3 )

girl ' s diet are calcium and iron .

5. Veget able prote in i s not of as high quality as animal T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 3 4- 35 )

protein . -...J
1--J
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Q) Q) Q) 0
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6. The St illman , Atkins , and Mayo Clinic Diet s ar e compl et ely T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 36 - 37 )
safe ways to lo se weight quickly - and· p ermanently .

7. Grap efruit , cott age chee s e , yogurt , lemon juic e , and T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 38- 39 )
prot ein bread have positive powers to t·ake off weight .

8. Honey i s le s s fattening than sugar . T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 40-41 )

9 . · A sl� ce of toast i s lowe r in Calori es than a sli c e T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 42-43 )

o f bread .

10 . A medium s i zed baked potato has fewer C alories than a T F 1 ·2 3 4 5 ( 44..:45 )

4 oz . port ion of be ef .

11 . A teenag�r requires mor e C alori es than an adult of T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 46-47 )

equal we ight �d activity .

12 . A pe anut butter sandwi ch and a gla s s of milk i s a good T F ·1 2 3 4 5 ( 48-49 )

subst itute for meat .

13. Br ead and potatoe s are fatt ening foods . T F ·1 2 3 4 5 ( 50-51 )

14 . A s erving of Jello is higher in protein and mor e T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 5 2- 5 3 )

nutr it ious than the same s i ze port ion of i c e milk .
.
15 . C itrus fruits and tomat oe s make the blood ac idic . T F 1 · 2 3 4 5 ( 54- 5 5 )

16 . Swe et s cause adole scent acne . T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 56-57 )

17 . One gel atin capsule a day build s stronger fingernails T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 58-5 9 )

and healthi er hair . --J
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f..t f..t f..t ::::!
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18 . Organic ally grown foods are not nece s s arily free T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 60- 61 )
from pesticides .

19 . The bulk of the U . S . population doe s not require T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 62-63 )

vitamin pills .

20 . Vit amin E and Vit amin B c omplex cap sules have little T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 64-6 5 )
therapeut ic value for health per s ons .

21 . Exc e s s Vit amin A and Vit amin D can b e toxic . T ·F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 66-67 )

22 . The only way to · lose weight i s to e at fewer· Calories T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 68�69)

than the . body us es .

23 . Supplementing an already adequat� diet through use of T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 70-71 )

vitamin pills can result in super vitality, greater
endurc;1nce , freedom from illne s s and resistance t o
inf e ction .

24 . A food additive cannot be approved for use if it i s T F 1 2 3 4 .5 ( 72- 73 )

found to cause cancer when eaten by man or animals .

25 . Cyanide and arsenic occur naturally in s ome foods . T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 74-7 5 )

26 . The U . S . RDA ( recommended daily allowance ) repres ent s T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 76-77 )

the amount of nutrient s needed every day b y healthy
people plus an excess of 30 - 5 00/o to allow for individual
differences .

27 . The great e st danger in following fad diets is that they may T F -1 2 3 4 5 ( 78-79 )
cause deficiency or imbalance o f one or more nutrient s . -..:]
l.V
 I I T I I
LW BAS S
( 1- 4 )

( 5 -10 )

,...-!
s::::
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:> C) :> rd
28 . The only di s e a s e in man known to be as s oc iat ed with T . F l 2 3 4 5 ( 12 1 3 )
-

�
e at ing foods from poor quality s o il i s s imp e g o it e r .

29 . A C alor i e is a substanc e found in food whi c h c au s e s T F l 2 3 4 5 ' ( 14- 1 5 )

wei ght gain .

30 . You must eat 3 5 00 C alori e s more than your b ody u s e s t o T F l 2 3 4 5 . ( 16-17 )

put on one pound of body we ight .

31 . Vit amin s and minerals do not have any C alor i e s . T F l 2 3 4 5 ( 18-19 )

32 . Mo st d i s e as e s are relat ed t o impr op er diet . T F l 2 . 3 4 5 ( 20 - 21 )

33 . Poor diet among teenager mot her s s eldom affec t s T F l 2 3 4 5 ( 2 2- 23 )

the ir b abies .

34 . S ome foods a nur s ing mother e at s c an c au s e dige s t ive T F l 2 3 4 5 ( 24- 25 )

pr oblems in her infant .

" "
35 . A t e enage mo t her should e at for two dur ing pr egnancy . T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 26 - 27 )

36 . Acne in te enagers is relat e d to the cond i t i on o f T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 2 8-29 )

the blood .

37 . A c ombination of le cithin , vinegar , and kelp helps T F l 2 3 4 5 ( 30- 31 ) ?

burn fat .
 s::
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3
G-1
ttl ..p
� ..p
H H
(!) (!)
� .g0
(!)
:> C) :> r"O
38 . Unbleached flour i s nutritionally superior to T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 32- 33 )
bleached flour .

39 � Ment al work s ignificantly increas e s your body ' s T F 1 '2 3 4 5 ( 34- 35 )

need for Calories .

40 . It i s not harmful to eat milk and fish at the T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 36 - 37 )

s ame t ime .

41 . F i sh builds brain cells . T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 38-39 }

42 . Tooth decay is often· related to poor food habit s . T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 40-41 )

43 . Pizza has little nutritive value . T. F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 42-43 )

44 . Athlet e s in training require more protein than le s s T· F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 44-45 )

active p ersons of the s ame sex , age , . and body we ight .
. 45 . Enr iched breads and cereals have s ome B vitamins and T F 1 2 3 4 .5 (46-47 )
iron added to them to increas e the ir nutritive quality .

46 . A pers on tends t o crave those foods his body needs . T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 48-49 )

47 Rec onst ituted dry skim milk i s nutritionally inferior T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 50-51 )

to fresh skim mi lk .
.

48 . Swe ating from phys ical exerci s e i s a s ign that fat i s T F 1 2 .3 4 5 ( 5 2- 5 3 )

being burned off .

49 . Diabete s in adult s · often c an be controlled through T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 54-5 5 )

· proper diet . --..J
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H H
Q) Q)
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�0 . S aturat ed fat s contain more C alories than polyun­ T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 56- 57 )
s aturated fats .

51 . It i s pos sible t o obtain all the nutr ient s we need T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 5 8- 5 9)

by eating a wide variety of foods .

52 . Any adequat e diet must c out ain meat as a s ource of T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 60-61 )

protein .

53. S everal research studies have indicated that heart T F 1 2 3 4 ·5 ( 62-63 )

di sease and high blood pres sure are diet related .

5 4·. Obe s ity is usually related to improper gland T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 64-6 5 )

funct ioning .

55 . Poor nutrition is seldom a problem among middle clas s T F 1 2 3 4 5 ( 66-67 )

and upper clas s familie s .

56 . Poor nutrit ional status of pregnant teenager s i s oft en T . F .1 2 3 4 5 ( 68-69 )

the c ause of complications during pregnancy .

--.J
0'\
 I I -1 I -cl ( 1- 4 )

· LW BASS ( 5 -10 )

Part II

How do you rat e the following t opi c s rel at ing t o food and nutr it � on ac c ording to your
inter e st s ? I f you find the t opi c extremely int e re s ting c ircle ( 1 ) ; very intere s t ing ( � ) ;
.
. moderat ely intere s ting ( 3 ) ; s lightly intere st ing ( 4 ) ; and not at all int er e sting ( 5 ) .

gaining or los ing weight 1 2 3 4 5 (12 )

health foods 1 2 3 4 . 5 (13)

vegetarian diet s . 1 2 3 4 5 ( 14 ) .

diet in r elation to he art di s e a s e 1 .2 3 4 5 ( 15 )

diet in relation to · diabet e s 1 2 3 4 5 ( 16 )

diet i n relation to colds 1 2 3 4 5 ( 17 )

diet in relation to c anc er 1 2 .3 4 5 ( 18 )

f oods my b ody needs 1 2 . 3 4 5 (19 )

f ad diet s 1 2 3 4 5 ( 20 )

s afety of the U . S . food supply 1 2 3 4 5 ( 21 )

energy met aboli sm 1 2 3 4 5 ( 22 )

nutrit ion and dental he alth 1 2 3 4 5 ( 2 3)

�
......;,:]
diet in relation to my complexion , hair , and nails 1 2 3 4 5 ( 2 4)

c aus es of tooth _decay 1 2 3 4 5 ( 25 )

health hazards with food preparation and handling 1 2 3 4 5 ( 26 )
how smoking , alcohol , and drugs are relat ed t o foods my
body needs and my nutr itional status 1 2 3 4 .5 ( 27 )
hoW diet during pregnancy affect s offspring 1 2 3 4 5 ( 28 )
world food supply 1 2 3 4 5 ( 29 )
s afe st age· t o have a baby 1 2 3 . .4 5 ( 30 }
bre�st . vs bottle feeding 1 2 3 4 5 ( 31 ) ·
food preparation 1 ·2 3 4 5 ( 32 )
exerci se and food needs 1 2" 3 4 5 ( 33 )
need for vitamins 1 2 3 4 5 ( 34 )
reliability of food and nutrition information 1 2 3 4 5 ( 35 )
c aus e s of overweight and underweight 1 2 3 4 5 ( 36 )
what funct ions foods can and cannot perform in the . body 1 2. 3 4 5 ( 37 )
growth and development 1 2 3 4 5 ( 38 )
feeding infant s and children 1 2 3 4 5 ( 39 )

-..J
(X)
Part III

For each of the topics li sted in C olumn I . choo se which one s of the s ources in C olumn II you
have most often .u sed in the past to obtain your information about the topic · . Li st the most fre ­
· quent information s ourc e lst , the second most frequent 2nd , and the third most frequent source 3
lst 2nd 3 rd Column I ColUlllil II
( 42-44 ) di et and weight-watc hing 1 . . parent
( 45 -4 7 ) organic and health foods 2. medical doctor or nurse

( 48-50 ) vegetarian diet s 3. friend

( 5 1 -5 3 ) diet in relation t o 4 . . high s·c hool teacher
dis e ase
5. popular books on nutrition
( 54-56 ) foods my b ody need s
6. T . V . or radio
( 5 7-5 9 ) food s afety advertisement s
( 60-62 ) nutrition and pregnancy 7. newspaper and mail
advert i s ement s
( 6 3-65 ) food preparation
8. diet itian or nutrit ioni st

9- magaz ine s

LAW : AB : rib
--.:]
ll/14/75 \0
APPENDIX B
 Table 11 . Percentage of misc onc eption ( MC ) , c orre ct answer , and gue s s re spons es a to 56 - item food
and nutrition que stionnaire

Perc ent of Tot al Re sponses b

Question MC Gues s MC +Gue s s Correct
·

- 1. Organic ally grown vegetable s are richer i n vitamins 36 . 7 53.6 90 . 3 . 9.7

than those grown by conventional means . (F ) .

2. Since vitamins are nutrient s whi ch our bodies must 40 . 5 39 . 5 80 . 0 . 20 . 0

have , it c annot be harmful to take vitamin supplement s
just to mak·e certain we get enough . (F )

3. Vitamin E .d eficiency produces symptoms of mus cular 23 . 2 60 . 6 83 . 8 16 2 .

dystrophy in rats so it i s s afe to as sume that the

same would apply to hwnans . (F )
CD
.......
- 4. Two nutrients likely to . be lacking fn the teenage 4.3 32 . 5 36 . 8 63 . 2
girl ' s diet are calcium and iron . ( T )
- 5 • . Vegetable protein is not of a s high quality as 14 . 6 56 8
. 71 . 4 28 . 6
animal protein . ( T )
6 • . The Stillman, Atkins , and Mayo Clinic Diet s are 15 . 1 62 . 1 77 . 2 22 . 8
c ompletely s afe ways to los e weight quickly and
permanently . (F )
- 7. Grapefruit , cottage chee s e , yogurt , lemon juice , and 49 . 8 33 . 0 82 . 8 17 . 2
protein bread have pos itive power s to take off we ight .
(F )

8. Honey i s le s s fattening than sugar . · (F ) 22 . 2 45 . 4 67 . 6 32 . 4

 Table 11 ( c ontinu�d )

Percent o f Tot al Re sponse sb

Quest ion MC Gue s s MC+Gues s Correct

9. A slice of toast i s lower i n C alories than a slice 30 . 8 41 . 1 71 . 9 28 . 1

of bread . (F )

10 . A medium s ized baked potato has fewer C alories than a 25 . 4 47 . 6 73 . 0 27 . 0

. 4 oz . portion of beef . (T )

- 11 . A teenager require s more C alories than an adult of 12 . 4 23 . 8 36 .. 2 63 . 2

equal weight and activity . ( T )

12 . A peanut· butter s andwich and a glas s of milk i s a good 17 . 9 23 . 3 41 . 1 57. 3

substitute for meat . ( T )
-13 . Bread and potatoes ·are fatt ening foods . (F ) 74 . 1 16 . 3 90 . 4 8.1

14 . A s erving of Jello is higher in protein and more 20 . 0 49 . 1 69 . 1 29. 2

nutrit ious than the s ame s i ze portion of i ce milk . (F )
15 . C itrus fruit s and tomat oes make the . blood acidi c . (F ) 49 . 2 43 . 2 92 . 4 7.5
16 . Sweets c ause adoles cent acn e . (F ) 48 . 1 · 35 . 5 83 . 6 15 . 1
17 . One gelat in c apsule a day builds str onger fingernails 41 . 6 48 . 1 89 . 7 9.7
and healthier hair . (F )

- 18 . Organic ally grown foods are not nece s s arily free 10 . 8 46 . 4 57 . 2 42 . 7

from pest ic ide s . ( T )
- 19 . The bulk of the U . S . population doe s not require 31 . 3 45 . 4 76 . 7 23 . 3
vit amin pills . ( T )
(X)
f\)
 Table 11 ( cont inued )

Percent of Total Re sponsesb

Question MC Gues s MC +Gue s s Correct
20 . · Vitamin E and Vitamin B · c omplex cap sules have little 16 . 8 68 � 7 85 . 5 13 . 5
therapeutic value for healthy persons . ( T )

21 . Exce s s Vit amin A and Vitamin D c an be t oxic . (T) 17 . 8 61 . 1 78 . 9 18 . 9

- 22 . The only way t o lose we ight is to eat fewer Calorie s 31'. 9 27 . 0 58 . 9 39 . 5
than the body uses . (T )
23 . Supplementing an already adequat e diet through use 22 . 2 48 . 0 70 . 2 28 . 7
of vitamin pills can re sult in super vit ality ,
gr eater endurance , freedom from illnes s and resist ance
t o infection . (F ) '-.

24 . A food additive cannot be approved for use .if it i s 8.1 39 . 4 47 . 5 51 . 3

found t o caus e canc er when eaten b y man or animals . (T)
- 25 . Cyanide and arsenic occur naturaily in s ome foods . (T) 13 . 5 63 . 3 76 . 8 22 . 7
26 . The U . S . RDA ( rec ommended daily allowance ) repre sent s 7.6 55 . 0 62 . 6 36 .� 8
the amount of nutrients needed every day by he althy
people plus an exc ess of 30-5o% t o allow for individual ·
differences . ( T )
�
21 . The great e st danger in following fad diets i s that they 4.4 25 . 9 30 . 3 68 . 2
may c ause defic iency or imb alance of one or more
nutrients . ( T )

28 . The only di sease in man known to be as s oc iated with 28 . 1 59 . 4 87 . 5 11 . 8

eating foods from poor quality s oil i s s imple goite.r . (T)
(X)
w
 Table 11 ( cont inue d )

Percent of Total Response s b

Quest ion MC Gue s s MC+Gue s s Correct
29 . A C alorie is - a substance found in food which c aus e s 5 3 .0 22 . 2 75 . 2 24 . 3
weight gai1;1 . (F )

. - 30 . You must eat 3500 Calor ie s more than your body uses t o 17 . 3 56 . 9 74 . 2 22 . 7
put on one pound of body weight . ( T )

31 . Vit amins and minerals d o not have any C alorie s . (T) 40 . 6 35 . 7 76 . 3 22 . 7

32 . Most di seases are re lated t o improper diet . (F ) 39 . 5 44. . 3 . 83 . 8 14 . 1

33 . Poor diet among teenager mother s seldom affect s 24 � 3 23 . 2 47 . 5 51 . 9

the ir babies . (F )

34 . Some foods a nurs ing mother e at s can cause digestive 11 ·. 8 51 . 4 63 . 2 36 . 8

· problems in her infant . ( T )

- 35 . A teenage mother should "eat for two " during 34 . 6 31 . 8 66 . 4 33 . 6

pregnancy. (F )
36 . Acne in teenagers i s related to the c ondit ion of 21 . 6 48 . 1 69. 7 29. 8
the blood . (F )

37 . A c ombination of lecithin , vinegar , and kelp helps 22 . 1 68 . 1 90 . 2 8.1

burn fat . (F )

38 . Unbleached flour is nutr itionally superior t o 20 . 6 67 . 0 87 . 6 11 . 9

bleached flour . (F )

39 . Ment al work significantly increases. your body ' s 38 . 4 47 . 0 85 . 4 14 . 1

need for C alories . (F ) (X)
+
 Table ll ( cont inued )

Perc ent of Tot al Re spons e sb

Question MC Gues s MC+Gu e s s C orrect

40 . It i s not harmful to eat milk and fish at the 15 . 6 28. 6 44 . 2 54 . 6

s ame t ime . ( T )

� 41 . fish builds brain cells . (F ) . 23 . 2 53. 5 7? . 7 22 . 2

42 . Tooth decay i s often relat ed t o poor food habit s . (T) · 7.5 17 . 9 25 . 4 74 . 1

43 . Pizza has little nutritive value . (F ) 24 . 3 38 . 8 63 . 1 34 . 1

- 44 . At�letes in training require more protein than les � 71 . 4 21 . 6 93 . 0 6.4

act ive persons of the s ame s ex , age ; and body we ight .
(F )

' 45 . Enriched breads and cereal s have s ome B vitamins and 3.3 4o . 6 43 . 9 55 . 7
iron added to them to increas e their nutr itive
quality. ( T )
- 46 . A person tends t o crave those foods his body needs . (F) 32 . 9 32 . 4 65 . 3 34 . 1

47 . Rec onst ituted dry skim milk i s nutritionally inferior 24 . 3 56 . 2 80 . 5 18 . 9

t o fresh skim milk . (F )

48. Sweating from phys ical exercise i s a s ign that fat is 54 . 6 29 . 7 84 . 3 15 .' 6
be ing burned off . (F )

--49 . Diabetes in adult s often can be c ontrolled through 8.6 31 . 9 40 . 5 58. 9

proper diet . ( T)
- 50 . S aturated fat s contain more Calor ies than polyun­ 48 . 7 43 . 1 91 � 8 7. 6
s aturated fats . (F ) (X)
\Jl
·
Table 11 ( c ont inued )

Per c ent of �ot al Re spon s e s b

Que s t i on MC Gue s s MC +Gue s s C orr e c t

51 . It i s p o s s ible to obtain all the nutr ient s we n e e d 14 . 5 37 . 8 52 . 3 47 . 6

b y e at ing a wide variety o f foods . T ( )
52 . Any ade �uate diet must c ont ain me at as a s our c e of · 53 . 5 22 . 1 75 . 6 24 . 3
prot e in . (F )

53 . S ever al res e arch studie s h ave indic at e d that heart 10 . 8 38 . 4 49 . 2 50 . 3

di s e as e and high blood pres sur e are diet r elat e d . (T)
54 . Ob e s ity i s usually r elat e d t o impr op e r gland 22 . 1. 59 - 9 82 . 0 . 17 . 3
funct i oning . (F )

55 . · Poor nutrit i on i s s e ldom a problem among middl e c la s s 23 . 2 32 . 6 55 . 8 44 . 3

and upp er c las s familie s . (F )

56 . Poor nutritional s t atus of pr egnant t e enag e r s i s oft en 7.0 37 . 8 44 . 8 54 . 6

·the c aus e of c omplication s during pregnancy . T ( )

. � s c on c eption re spons e s were inc orr e c t answer s wit h high degr e e s of c onfidenc e , i . e . , "1" .
or " 2 " ; gue s s re spons e s were c or r e ct or inc orrect · answe r s with low levels of conf idenc e , i . e . ,
" 3 , " "4 , " or " 5 " ; c orr ect r e s pons e s were c orr e c t answ e r s wit h high level s of c onfidenc e , i . e . ,
"1" or " 2 . "

b
Mi s c onc eption , gue s s and c orre c t answer re spon s e s do not tot al 100 perc ent due t o mi s s ing
c ases .

():)
(J\
 87

Table 12 . First choice informat ion s ourc es by sex and gr ade for the
category of diet and wei ght -wat ching

First Choice Re sponse s

Grade Grade Grade
Information Source Males Females 10 11 12

1. parent 37 41 37 18 23

2. medic al doctor or nurse 10 12 12 8 2

3. friend 3 13 9 5 2

4. high school teacher 3 1 0 1 3

5. popular books on nutrit ion 1 4 3 2 0

6. T .V . or radio advertis ements 6 0 4 0 2

7 . · newspaper and mail advert isement s 2 0 0 1 1

8. diet it ian or nutritioni st 10 8 6 5 7

9. magazine s 8 10 3 6 9
Total So 89 74 46 49
 88

T abl e 13 . Fir st choi ce informat ion s our c es by sex and gr ade for the
c ategory of org ani c and · he alth foods

Fir s t C ho i c e R e spon s e s
Grade Grade Grade
Information Sour c e Mal e s Female s 10 11 12

1. p arent 19 7 12 8 6

2. medi c al doc t or or nur s e 8 18 17 5 4

3. fr i end 7 7 4 6 4

4. high sc hool teacher 6 4. 5 3 2

5. popular b ooks on nutri t ion 1 12 5 6 2

6. T.V. or r adi o advert i s ement s 13 9 11 4 7

7. newspaper and mail advert i s ement s 2 2 1 1 2

8. diet it i an or nutrit i onist 10 8 7 4 7

9. magazine s 15 16 11 7 13 .

Tot al 81 83 73 44 47
 89

Table 14 . First · choice information s ources by sex and grade for the
category of vegetarian diet s

First Choice ResEons e s

Grade Grade Grade
Informat ion Source Male s Females 10 ll 12

1. parent 14 : 14 9 7 12

2. medic al doctor or nur se 20 ll · 21 6 4

3. friend 7 7 2 4 8

4. high school teacher 5 2 5 1 l

5. popu�ar books on nutrition 2 10 4 4 4

6. T . V . or radio advertisement s 12 8 12 6 2

7. newspaper and mail advertisement s 5 6 4 2 5

8. diet it ian or nutritionist 5 13 5 4 9

9. magazines s . 10 8 6 4

Tot al 78 81 70 4.0 49
Table 15 . Fir st choice informat ion s ourc e s by sex and grade for the ·
c at egory of diet in re lati on to di s e a s e

Fir s t Choice Re spons e s

Gr ade Grade Grade
Information S our c e Male s Female s 10 11 12

·1 . p arent 15 17 15 7 10

2. medic al doctor or nur s e 27 30 28 18 11

3. fr iend 2 0 1 0 1

4. high s chool te acher 12 10 6 8 8

5. popular books on nutrit i on 5 4 4 1 4

6. · T.V. or r adio advert i s ement s 7 3 3 4 3

7. newspaper and mail adve rti s ement s 2 7 5 1 3

8. dietit ian or nutritioni s t 5 5 2 2 6

9. magazines 4 7 7 3 1

Tot al 79 83 7l 44 47
 91

Table 16 . · First choice information source ·s by sex and gr ade for the
cat egory of foods my body needs

First Choice Re sEonse s

Grade Grade Grade
Information Source Male s Female s 10 11 12

1. par ent 32 35 30 15 . 22

2. medical doctor or nur se 17 22 19 10 10

3. friend 2 1 2 0 1

4. high school teacher i3 10 9 8 6

5. popular books on nutr it ion 2 4 0 4 2

6. T .V. or radio adverti sement s 5 2 3 1 3

7. newspaper and . mail advert isement s 2 0 1 1 0

8. dietitian or nutr it ioni st 5 10 7 6 2

9. magazine s 4 1 3 0 2

Total 82 85 74 45 48
 92

Table 17 . Firs t choice information s ources by sex and grade for the
category of ·food s afety

First Choice Re sponses

Grade Grade Grade
Informat ion Sour ce Males Females 10 11 12

1. parent 21 25 19 12 15

2. medic al d9ctor or nurse 18 · 13 17 10 4

3. friend 3 1 2 1 1

4. high s chool teacher 8 14 9 6 7

5. popular books on nutrition 2 6 5 2 1.

6. T . V . or radio adverti s ement s 12 9 9 3 9

7. newspaper and mail adverti s ement s 5 3 1 4 3

8. dietitian or nutrit ionist 7 11 8 5 5

9. magazine s 4 2 1 · 2 3
Tot al 80 84 7l 45 48
 93

Table 18 . First choice information · sources by sex and gr ade for the
category of nutr it ion and pregnancy

First Choice Re sponse s

Grade Grade Grade
Information Source Males Females 10 11 . 12

1. parent 20 21 10 14 17

2. medic al doct or or nurse 21 38 27 18 14

3. friend 4 1 1 1 3

4. high school teacher 5 6 5 1 5

5. popular books on nutrit ion 5 7 4 4 4

6. T . V . or radio advert i sement s 8 2 9 1 0

7. newspaper and mail advertisement s 1 2 3 0 0

8. dietitian or nutrit ioni st 5 3 5 2 1

9. magazine s 7 3 5 2 3

Total 76 83 69 43 47
Table 19 . First cho ic e . information s ources by sex and gr ade for the
c ategory of . food preparat ion

First Choice Response s

Grade Grade Grade
Informat ion S ource Male s Females 10 11 12 .

1. parent 48 · 49 36 29 32

2. medical doctor or nurse 7 6 8 2 3

3. friend 2 0 1 1 0

4. high s chool teacher 3 6 3 3 3

5. popular books on nutrition 0 7 3 3 1

6. T . V . or radio adverti s ement s 5 3 6 2 0

7. newspaper and mail advertisement s 1 2 1 1 1

8. dietitian or nutr it ionist 9 10 11 3 5

9� magazine s 5 3 4 1 3
Total 80 86 73 45 48
 VITA ·

Loi s Ann Wodarsk;i ," daught er of William and Lois Moon , was born on ·

November 8 , 1943 . She gr aduat ed from Stuttgart Ameri c an Hi gh School in

Stuttgart , Germany , in 1961 . . In April 196 5 she gr aduated magna cum laude

from Flor ida State Univer s ity with a Bachelor of Sc ience degree in Home

E c onomic s Educ at i on . She . re ceive d a Mas ter o f Scienc e degre e in Food

Scienc e ·and Inst itut ion Management from the Univers ity of Tenne s s ee ,

Knoxville , in Aprii 1967 .

. From 1967 to 1974 she t aught high school and adult voc at ional home

ec onomic s in Tenn e s s e e and Mi s s ouri . While atte nding the Graduate

School of Home Economic s at the Vnivers ity of Tenne ssee , Kno� ille , fr om

1974 to 1976 she served as a gr aduat e te aching as s i stant and graduate

r e s e arch as s i s t ant . Currently · she i s As s i s tant Profe s s or of Food Sc ienc e

in the College of Human Ecology , Univer sity of Maryland at C ollege Park .

She is a past pre s ident of the Florida St ate Unive rs ity Chapt er of

Omi cron . Nu and i s a member of the S oc iety of the Sigma Xi , Soci ety for

Nutr ition Ed�cati on, Phi Kappa Phi , and Kappa Delt a Pi . In 1964 she was

the recipient of the Borden Home Ec onomi cs Scholarship Award and received

the American Home Economic s As s oci ati on Re s e arch Award in 1 967 .

She is the wife of John S . Wodar ski and the mother of Anne

Chr i s t ine Wodar ski of Columbi a , Maryl and .

95