Attitudinal and demographic correlates of food supplementation practices.

Attitudinal and demographic correlates to food supplement use were ascertained for 689 adults residing in seven Western states. Of the 689, 372 (54%) were food supplement users and 317 (46%) were non-users. The only attitudinal variable significantly (p less than .001) related to the practice of food supplementation was the belief that vitamin C could cure and prevent a cold. More users than non-users agreed with the statement that "vitamin C can both prevent and cure a cold." Demographic variables found to be significantly (p less than .05) related to food supplement use included education, marital status, home type, employment status, and population of town/city in which the respondent resided. Food supplement users tended to be living together without marriage, never married, or divorced and living in town houses or "other" types of dwellings. More users than non-users resided in communities with populations of 2,500 or in communities with populations of 10,000 to 49,999.

Food supplement usage in seven Western states.

Data on food supplement usage were collected from 2451 adults in seven Western states. No significant differences were determined among states. A majority (66.6%) of the sample used some form of food supplements, with 40.0% consuming one to three supplements per day. The archetype food supplement user was likely to be a young female with some college education, who believes that the nutritional quality of food has decreased in the last 10 yr and in the efficacy of supplements for disease prevention or cure, and primarily receives information concerning food and nutrition from books and health food stores. Correspondingly, one of the most frequently cited reasons for using food supplements, next to "to prevent colds and other illnesses" was "to make up for what is not in food." The three most frequently used food supplements, in rank order, were multiple vitamins, vitamin C, and multiple vitamins plus iron.

Classifying cultural food habits and meanings.

Old ideas and themes need to be challenged. Fresh approaches are needed in dealing with problems of food habits so that ultimately scientific knowledge of cultural food habits can produce greater success in nutrition education programs.

Assessing the anthropometric status of Hawaii's preschoolers participating in feeding programs in day care centers.

A survey of low and middle income preschoolers who were exposed to similar feeding programs and physical activities showed similarity of physical growth between the two groups of children. Mean values of arm size, muscularity, triceps skinfold, and fat area were similar and signified adequate protein status and caloric reserves in both groups of children. Comparison of data from preschoolers in Oahu and on the United States mainland showed that all left arm triceps skinfold medians of preschoolers in Oahu were 1) smaller than the medians recorded for right arms in the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and 2) greater than the values on the 50th percentile for right arms of white children of the Ten-State Nutrition Survey, which indicated that Oahu preschoolers occupied a caloric reserve intermediate between the two mainland United States populations surveyed. Medians of heights and weights were lower than the median values of the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and were closer to the 50th percentile of while children in the Ten-State Nutrition Survey.

Nutritional knowledge of health food users in Oahu, Hawaii.

A survey to learn the nutritional knowledge and dietary practices of health food users on Oahu was conducted at fourteen health food stores. Most of the participants were under thirty years of age, followed no specific dietary regimen, used health foods in combination with supermarket foods, would seek help from physicians if they became sick, and have obtained nutritional information through popular publications. Reliance on such publications has produced a population which is fairly well informed regarding some nutritional facts but which has acquired a host of incorrect nutritional information. Since this population is dedicated to obtaining proper nutrition and would be guided by their knowledge of nutrition, problems of dietary practices have arisen. Education in schools does not provide young people with tools and knowledge to choose food properly. In general, teaching of nutritional facts and activities, on which health and well-being depend, appears to be low in priority as far as school authorities are concerned. Elementary school teachers do not have the background to teach nutrition. Nutrition teaching should begin during the preschool years and should continue through elementary grades, since they are important growth periods when food habits are formed.