Of the more than 9,700 people in a recent survey, when asked to assess dietary quality, approximately 85% were off-base and almost all overestimated how healthy it was. I did. Photos for free-photos / pixabay
I think many people choose a healthy diet, but they may be looking at it through rosy glasses.
This is the main discovery of a new study aimed at identifying the discontinuity between how healthy Americans think they are eating and how they are actually eating.
“It seems difficult for American adults to accurately assess dietary quality, and most adults believe that dietary quality is healthier than it really is,” said research author Jessica Thomson. increase. She is a USDA research epidemiologist in Miss Stoneville.
For the study, researchers asked participants to rate their diet as excellent, very good, good, normal or bad. People also completed a 24-hour food questionnaire. The researchers then compared the responses to see how consistent the responses to the two exercises were.
In short: they didn’t.
Of the more than 9,700 people, when asked to assess dietary quality, approximately 85% were off-base and almost all overestimated how healthy it was.
“They actually had a poor diet, but they felt the diet was very good,” Thomson said.
Studies have shown that those who rated their diet poor tended to be much more accurate. Their rating was consistent with the researchers’ ratings more than 9 times out of 10.
In the other four rating categories, 1% to 18% of participants accurately assessed food quality.
Further research is needed to understand how to close this gap.
“First, we need to understand what factors individuals consider when thinking about dietary health,” says Thomson.
Her team wanted to know if a simple question could be used as a screening tool for nutritional research. Previous studies have shown that self-assessment can be a powerful predictor of health and risk of premature death.
Findings consistent with previous studies were presented at an online conference of the American Society for Nutrition on Tuesday. Studies presented at medical conferences should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The gap revealed in this study lies between knowledge and behavior, said Shelley Maniscalco, a Washington, DC-based dietitian who reviewed the findings.
“People are widely aware that they need to eat more fruits and vegetables, that whole grains are good for them, and that they should be low in fat and fried foods,” she said.
According to Manis Calco, the key is to teach people how to cook and provide easy-to-understand recipes to make it easier for people to eat delicious, nutritious foods.
And people need to remember: change doesn’t happen overnight.
“People are overwhelmed when trying to make big changes at once,” she said. “A good place to start is not to say” I’m on a diet “or” I’m on a diet “. “
why? That means the diet is temporary.
“You are always ready to stop it,” Manis Calco said. “Change your mind and instead say,” I’m taking these little steps to improve my diet in ways that help my health. ” “
For more information
The USDA details a healthy diet.
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