Is the link between nutrients and foods understood? The case of fibre and folate.

OBJECTIVES: To assess and contrast awareness of the link between dietary fibre and folate and their major food sources (fruit, vegetables, bread and cereals). DESIGN: Mailed questionnaire investigating changes made to dietary intake of fibre, folate, fruit, vegetables, bread and cereals in the previous six months. SETTING: The survey was conducted between June and November 1998 in the Australian Capital Territory. SUBJECTS: One thousand one hundred and twenty-six adults randomly selected from the electoral roll. RESULTS: More women than men in both older (50+ years) and younger (18-49 years) age groups reported increasing their consumption of folate, fibre, fruit and vegetables in the prior six months. In contrast, more men than women reported increased consumption of bread, cereals, rice and pasta in the previous six months. For food categories and fibre, less than 4% of respondents were unsure about changes in these food habits. However, 26% of men and women were 'not sure' about changes to folate intake. Similar proportions of men and women (about 33%) reported consuming more fruit, vegetables or cereal-based foods over the prior six months, yet only 6% of these men and 14% of these women reported consuming more folate. In contrast, 44% of men and 51% of women who reported consuming more plant foods also reported consuming more dietary fibre. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that subjects, particularly the younger age group, had a poor understanding of the relationship between folate intake and its major food sources. The understanding of the relationship between fibre intake and its food sources appeared substantial, but confusion about specific food sources was still evident. These outcomes question the effectiveness of nutrition education used to date, particularly for the current priority of increasing folate intake in younger women in the new, 'health claims' environment.

Principal sources of dietary fat in Australia: evidence from apparent consumption data and the national dietary survey of adults.

The present study evaluates the evidence about the principal sources of fat in the Australian diet from the national per capita food supply data (apparent consumption; AC) and the national dietary survey of 6255 adults aged 25 to 64 years (NDSA). The AC and the NDSA data were converted to, and expressed on, an equivalent food basis to allow appropriate comparisons of foods consumed, and food sources of dietary fat. The AC figures showed that the principal sources of fat nationally were meat, edible fats, fat spreads and oils, and milk and milk products. As an estimate of adult food consumption the AC underestimated beef and veal, lamb, total meat, and poultry consumption by 41, 10, 29 and 13% respectively, and overestimated offal, milk and milk products, and fats and oils by 15, 61, 20, and 29% respectively. The AC data rated fat spreads and cooking fats as providing more of the fat in the adult diet than did the NDSA, both in terms of total fat and fat as a percentage of energy. Conversely, on this same basis, the AC underrated meats as sources of fat in the adult diet. Other foods were of similar importance as sources of dietary fat in both sets of data. The AC markedly underestimated adult fat intake at 32% of energy compared with the NDSA result of 37%. These results have implications for epidemiological research and for the development of food and nutrition policy and programmes in Australia and similar countries.