Perception of a healthy diet: a survey among fourth form students in Trinidad [abstract]

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to determine the percentage of students with the correct perception of a healthy diet and whether perception varied with gender, type and geographic location of schools, religion, ethnicity, family history of chronic disease and exposure to nutritional information. A cross-sectional survey of 795 randomly chosen 4th form students, from randomly chosen secondary schools throughout Trinidad, was conducted over two weeks. Students who passed all six sections of a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire, with at least 50 percent correct responses in each section, were deemed to have the correct perception of a healthy diet. One hundred and sixty-five (21 percent) students had the correct perception of a healthy diet and 102 (23.9 percent) females vs 63 (17.7 percent males passed (p= 0.036). A significantly higher proportion (p= 0.008) of government-assissted school students (30.8 percent) passed, compared with students from Government schools (19.6 percent). Concerning "Healthy Choices", 87.3 percent of students passed whereas the "Dietary Beliefs" section had the lowest pass rate of 30.8 percent. Of the 676 students who reported being exposed to nutritional information, 153 (22.6 percent) had the correct perception. However, 11.3 percent of the students who reported no previous exposure to such information passed (p= 0.008). Religion, ethnicity and family history of chronic disease had no significant influence on students' perception. In conclusion, it was found that the majority of students sampled had an incorrect perception of a healthy diet. Perception varied with gender, exposure to nutritional information, type and geographic location of school attended. (AU)