Communicating Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Room for improvement

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Abstract

This qualitative study examines consumers’ attitudes about key messages, alternative messages, and various formats of the 1995 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Five focus groups were conducted using a discussion guide based on previous research and the research concerns of the 1995 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The presentation orders of the guidelines, guideline alternatives, and formats were varied to prevent bias. Forty consumers (age range, 25 to 43 years) participated: 3 groups of women and 2 groups of men. Participants were not familiar with the Dietary Guidelines but had heard some messages. Consumers were confused by several guideline messages. First, the messages to “Maintain or improve your weight” and “Balance the food you eat with physical activity” did not make sense to them. Second, respondents were confused by the term “balance” in several different contexts. The participants most preferred a shortened format, followed by a 2-tiered or grouped format, with the 1995 list of Dietary Guidelines falling last. Most of the Dietary Guidelines could be better communicated to the public using shorter, clearer messages, especially for the weight and physical activity, and fat guidelines. Decreasing the number of guidelines or using a tiered/grouped format could make the Dietary Guidelines more useful to consumers. J Am Diet Assoc. 2001:101:793-797.

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Methods

Sample Selection

An experienced firm fielded the research (11). A moderator conducted 5 focus groups comprised of 40 participants (8 per group), aged 25 to 45 years. Three groups were conducted in Baltimore, Md (2 groups of women and 1 group of men) and 2 in St Louis, Mo (1 group each of men and women).

The site coordinators recruited participants by telephone. Participants in St Louis received a $40 incentive, and those in Baltimore received $50.The coordinators audiotaped and videotaped all

Results

The sample reflected a range of demographic characteristics of the US population (see Table 1).

Awareness of healthy dietary behaviors, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and other educational tools

Most respondents described a healthful diet as eating well-balanced meals, with foods from several food groups, and eating in moderation. Respondents were somewhat familiar with the Food Guide Pyramid (9) because it is featured on many products, including cereal boxes. Some could describe the

Applications/Conclusions

Target and test messages. This research suggests that messages used in dietetics practice need to be tested and targeted for specific subpopulations because several guideline messages confused respondents. These included “Maintain or improve your weight,” “Balance the food you eat with physical activity,” “Balance your consumption of high-fat foods with low-fat foods” and “Balance your fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol intake over a few days.” Respondents’ confusion regarding the word

Limitations

As with all focus group research, the findings are based on a small sample of respondents, and thus do not statistically represent the total population. Therefore, although the findings presented in this report accurately reflect the opinions expressed in the groups, they should be interpreted as suggestive rather than definitive.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans can significantly improve the health of Americans if consumers are provided with concise, actionable, important messages in a

References (18)

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