engleski

Dieting practices and knowledge about fibre and cereals among young females

The aim of this work was to compare the way of weight control, dietary knowledge related to dietary fibre and cereals and intake of this food, between females which were dieting and non dieters group. The survey population included 253 female students with a mean age and standard deviation (SD) of 22.25± 1.47y. Dieting practices, nutritional knowledge and consumption of products from cereal group were assessed by using a specially designed survey instruments. The questionnaire consisted of demographic questions, questions regarding recent dieting practices, nutritional knowledge questionnaire and food frequency questionnaire. During the survey 34.39% of participants reported that they were trying to lose weight during the previous year. Surprisingly, high percentage (83.92%) of study participants in the acceptable weight category according to BMI, reported dieting, indicating large proportion of normal weight females with weight dissatisfaction. Between dieters only 10.30% were actually overweight (BMI>25). Of those who have tried dieting, 35% used meal skipping to control their weight with concerning proportion (approximately two thirds) of those who usually skip breakfast while the rest regularly skip the evening meal. Limiting portion size was practiced by 21.83% of those who had tried dieting techniques. The increasing frequency of exercise as weight loss method was reported by 16.09% of participants. The tendency to eat less bread was remarked among dieters (42.52% of dieters eat breads daily in comparison with 64.46% of non dieters). Dieters ate more frequently breakfast cereals and had more positive attitude toward whole grain products. Besides better knowledge about positive health effect of fibre consumption, more dieters had correctly identified fibre-rich food.

cereals; dieting; females; fibre; nutrition knowledge

nije evidentirano