Interrelationships among attitudes toward and practice
of nutrition and health were determined from results of
335 responses to a survey mailed to members of a prepaid
health plan in Portland, Oregon, in the Spring of 1981.
The scales used to test attitudes included Subjective
Index of General Well-Being, Health Locus of Control and
the attitude "nutrition is important". Nutrition practices
were determined from a one-day food record analyzed using
Pennington's index nutrients. Health practices, including
smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, hours of
sleep, body weight in relation to standards and meal frequency,
were analyzed to form a health practice score.
Demographic characteristics of the population, including
sex, age, marital status, employment status, education and
income, were determined and correlated with all attitudes
and practices. Interrelationships were tested using
Pearson r and Chi-square correlations and multiple regression
analysis.
The population studied was characterized as married,
employed, well educated and middle income. They felt
well and in control of their health. Approximately 52
percent practiced several desirable health practices,
about 90 percent had a positive attitude toward nutrition
and only 22 percent scored above at least 66 percent of
Dietary Nutrient Score considered adequate for adults
while 33 percent had diets which did not meet 50 percent
of this score.
This study using members of a prepaid health plan
supports the existing literature. Nutrition attitude,
"nutrition is important," is correlated to nutrient intake.
Health attitudes, general well-being and health locus of
control, were correlated to health practices. In this
study correlations among general well-being, health locus
of control, nutrition attitude, health practices and
nutrition practices were noted, however the correlations were
not large enough to be predictive. Further study is
recommended to define and develop these relationships. / Graduation date: 1982
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/27477 |
| Date | 30 April 1982 |
| Creators | Daoust, Jan Morgan |
| Contributors | Johnson, Elizabeth |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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