Background:
Knowledge deficits may impede healthy eating. Provision of adequate nutrition information is associated with consumption of healthier food choices.
Aim:
To assess whether there is a disparity between what foods, beverages and dieting practices the public versus nutrition experts view as healthy.
Methods:
A cross-sectional on-line survey of 1,097 adults 18-64 years (‘public’) and 134 professional dietitians and nutritionists (‘experts’) in Victoria, Australia assessed perceptions of which foods and beverages are considered healthy, dieting practices and perceptions of how healthy such practices are, and what factors to consider when making a healthy choice. Differences in perceptions and practices between the samples were assessed using chi-square tests.
Results:
There were large discrepancies in which foods the public and expert samples considered healthy. Coconut oil, orange juice, Caesar salad, Nutri-grain cereal and gluten free cake had the greatest percentage point difference between the samples, with the public more likely to consider these foods as healthy. Despite 70% of the public reporting diets containing only some or almost no nutritious, healthy foods, 78% believe their overall diet is healthy and 61% place no rules or restrictions on items consumed. Of the public who reported undertaking dieting practices, low-fat, sugar-free and low-carb diets were the most common, and the public were more likely than experts to perceive sugar-free and low-carb diets as healthy. Experts were more likely to report a Mediterranean diet and following the Australian Dietary Guidelines as healthy and more likely to be undertaking these dietary practices compared to the public. Personal judgement of products was considered important by both samples when making healthy choice decisions.
Conclusions:
If public perceptions surrounding healthier eating are flawed, personal attempts to improve diet may be missed or unsuccessful. Greater efforts should be made to align Victorian adults’ health perceptions with those of experts.