Nutrition awareness, health practices and dietary supplementation

A detailed questionnaire was administered by mail to a random sample of 1000 Melbourne residents in June 1984 in order to assess their understanding of the Australian dietary guidelines. Seven hundred and thirty people returned questionnaires. The respondents were categorized as regular dietary supplementers (RS, n = 245); irregular dietary supplementers (IS, n = 84), or non-supplementers (NS, n = 370). Comparisons of the responses of these groups showed that more RS and IS women reported that they drank alcohol and experienced occupational stress; more RS and IS practised meditation-relaxation, and fewer RS were smokers. More of the RS expressed satisfaction with their nutrient status, whereas more of the IS and NS were dissatisfied about their intakes of fibre, starch, salt, sugar and calories. More of the RS practised a range of specific activities related to both orthodox and non-orthodox dietary recommendations, and they attached greater importance to them for their health. They had also referred to more sources of nutrition information in the year preceding the study. The results suggest that regular dietary supplementers are more oriented toward both orthodox and 'alternative' nutrition information than other people. However, they are likely to be a more receptive audience for nutritional or dietary recommendations, such as the dietary guidelines, than other sections of the general population.