Author and graduation date: William R. SUKALA, September, 1998

Committee members: Larry S. Verity (Chair), Mark Kern, Robert Metzger

Thesis title: Nutrition Knowledge and Information Sources of Active Individuals

The purpose of this study was to assess active individuals' nutrition knowledge and beliefs regarding macronutrients and compare them to established public health and nutrition messages. The second goal was to assess demographics, physical activity level, and information sources to determine if these variables influenced their knowledge and belief scores. Two hundred and ninety participants, 173 women and 117 men, completed and returned questionnaires. Subjects were recruited from health clubs and university classrooms. Overall, subjects correctly answered 16.3 questions out of 29 (56.3%). Participants correctly answered 9.2 out of 17 (54%) nutrition knowledge questions. Subjects correctly answered 7.1 out of 12 (59%) nutrition belief questions. On macronutrient knowledge subsections, participants correctly answered 2.9 out of six carbohydrate questions (48%), 2.7 out of five protein questions (54%), and 3.6 out of six fat questions (60%). On macronutrient belief questions, subjects correctly answered 2.3 out of four carbohydrate questions (57%), 2.4 out of five protein questions (48%), and 2.5 out of six fat questions (42%). Generally, older subjects with a higher level of education scored significantly better on most sections than younger, less educated subjects. Gender, income, and varying levels of physical activity had no effect on knowledge and belief scores. The highest test scores were observed in subjects that listed university nutrition courses, university newsletters, medical/nutrition journals, registered dietitians, and naturopathic doctors as their main information sources. The lowest scores were found in those who consulted family and friends, radio, health food stores and their employees, physicians, and massage therapists. Generally, users of reliable information sources scored better than those who consulted questionable sources. While physicians are considered reliable health professionals, they were infrequently visited by subjects and did not appear to play a key role in nutrition decisions, perhaps explaining the observed scores in this study. Regarding macronutrients, these data suggest that people are more confused about carbohydrates and protein than about dietary fat. This may be due, in part, to widespread misinformation promoting high-protein, low-carbohydrate regimens. Higher relative fat test scores (compared to carbohydrate and protein) suggest people are receiving public health messages, but the overall scores are still low and reflect confusion in this area. A limitation of this study was that it did not investigate subjects' perceived credibility information sources. Future studies may provide a clearer picture of the relationship between information sources and their impact on macronutrient knowledge and beliefs. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that overall macronutrient knowledge and beliefs are incongruent with accepted health and nutrition standards and are negatively impacted by questionable information sources.

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