1. WHAT DO YOUNG PEOPLE KNOW
ABOUT AUSTRALIAN DIETARY
GUIDELINES?
Results from two studies
EMILY KOTHE
VANESSA ALLOM & BARBARA MULLAN

2. BACKGROUND
› Australian dietary guidelines
recommend that adults consume
two servings of fruit and five
servings of vegetables each day.
› This recommendation has been
widely promoted in the Australian
community through the Go for 2&5
social marketing campaign.
› Young Australians (19-24 years)
are less likely than any other age
group to consume adequate
amounts of fruit and vegetables.
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3. UNDERSTANDING CONSUMPTION
STUDY ONE
› AIM:
- To investigate the specific factors relevant to healthy eating behaviours in
Australian young adults using a qualitative design.
› DESIGN:
- 45 young adults participated in focus group discussions about fruit and
vegetables.
- Discussions lasted 1-2 hours and involved 5-7 participants.
- All focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analysed using framework
analysis.
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4. UNDERSTANDING CONSUMPTION
STUDY ONE
› RESULTS:
- Analysis identified a number of barriers to consumption that fell into the a priori
coding frame.
- Significant knowledge gaps and misunderstandings were also identified.
- Participants reported feeling confused about dietary guidelines
- Many groups could not correctly report dietary guidelines
- Many participants were unsure what foods contributed to dietary guidelines
- Participants repeatedly made comments that appeared reveal significant
knowledge gaps relating to serving sizes
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5. UNDERSTANDING CONSUMPTION
STUDY ONE
› CONCLUSION:
- Most fruit and vegetable
promotion campaigns
assume that people
have a certain level of
knowledge about fruits
and vegetables.
- Young people may not
know enough to
understand - and
adhere to - dietary
guidelines
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6. QUANTIFYING KNOWLEDGE GAPS
STUDY TWO
› AIM:
- To quantitatively investigate the fruit and vegetable related knowledge of a
sample of Australian young people.
› DESIGN:
- One-hundred and six young adults (mean age = 19 years) completed a web-
based questionnaire that assessed recall and understanding of Australian dietary
guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption.
- Recall of the guidelines, serving size knowledge, and food knowledge were all
assessed.
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7. QUANTIFYING KNOWLEDGE GAPS
STUDY TWO
› RESULTS:
- Knowledge of Australian dietary recommendations was assessed using both
unprompted and prompted methods.
- Unprompted recall:
- 43% of individuals correctly reported the RDI of fruit
- 54% of individuals correctly reported the RDI of vegetables.
- Prompted recall:
- 48% of individuals correctly reported the RDI of fruit
- 64% of individuals correctly reported the RDI of vegetables.
- Only 9% of participants correctly reported the Australia dietary guidelines for
both fruit and vegetable consumption.
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8. QUANTIFYING KNOWLEDGE GAPS
STUDY TWO
› RESULTS:
- Serving size knowledge was assessed using a serving size approximation task.
Participants were asked to report the serving size for two fruits and two
vegetables (apple, grapes, carrot and lettuce)
Correct Incorrect Don’t Know
Apple 61 34 0
Grapes 41 47 0
Carrot 30 57 4
Lettuce 30 38 4
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9. QUANTIFYING KNOWLEDGE GAPS
STUDY TWO
› RESULTS:
- Food Product Knowledge was assessed using a recipe task. Participants were
provided with a recipe and asked to indicate which foods would contribute to their
daily intake of fruit and vegetables.
% of participants who correctly
classified the ingredient
Carrot 97
Celery 96
Potato 90
Turnip 86
Canned tomato 78
Onion 71
Tomato paste 23
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10. QUANTIFYING KNOWLEDGE GAPS
STUDY TWO
› CONCLUSIONS:
- Young adults in study two appeared to have significant gaps in all three domains
of fruit and vegetable related knowledge.
- Only a small minority of individuals could report both the fruit and vegetable
guidelines
- Many participants could not accurately report serving sizes or correctly identify
foods which contribute to their daily intake of fruit and vegetables.
- Knowledge gaps were consistent with knowledge gaps and misconceptions
revealed in study one.
These knowledge gaps show the need for a fresh approach to fruit and
vegetable promotion in this population.
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11. THANK YOU
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