Abstract
Purpose: As perceptions influence behavioural choices and diet has a substantial health impact, it was decided to ascertain the accuracy of the dietary health perceptions of a group of future health professionals. Design: A case study of the dietary perceptions of 70 undergraduate health professionals was undertaken. Materials and Methods: Participants were requested to complete a questionnaire to record their perceptions of the adequacy of their diet with respect to the appropriateness of various dietary choices and dietary disease risks. The initial questionnaire was then compared with a similar questionnaire which participants completed having undertaken a computer-based weighed dietary analysis and having evaluated this information in the light of dietary recommendations produced by various health authorities. Results: Substantial discrepancies were reported between participants' spontaneous and informed perceptions. Both under- and overestimations were encountered. Analysis of initial and informed perceptions found that the amount of saturated fat consumed was the most frequently underestimated dietary constituent and cancer the most often overestimated dietary risk. Conclusions: The level of discrepancies detected between naive and informed dietary perceptions suggests that inaccurate health perceptions deserve to be considered as one potential barrier to improved self-care in this study sample.