[The dietary awareness of Danish adults]

By means of an interview investigation of a representative sample comprizing 4,753 adult Danes over the age of 15 years, the attempted dietary principles of the population are illustrated. 60% of the population try to avoid certain foodstuffs from the point of view of health and 75% include certain foodstuffs in their diets for the same reason. The persons who particularly follow the dietary recommendations made in recent years, which consist of avoiding fat and including coarse bread, vegetables and fruit in the diet are women, aged 25-44 years, individuals with high net incomes and persons living in the suburbs of the capital and in the three largest Danish provincial towns. The efforts to achieve healthy dietary habits are, in addition, associated with non-smoking and moderate alcohol consumption. During the past five years, the proportion of Danes who try to alter dietary habits has increased by approximately 10%. During the same period, the actual average diet has, however, not altered in the same positive direction. The dietary principles aimed at and which are reported here are, therefore, expression of Danes' awareness of dietary principles rather than the actual behaviour. Thus, despite optimal knowledge, barriers exist which prevent alteration of dietary behaviour.