Poster Presentation Joint Annual Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of NZ and the Nutrition Society of Australia

Nutrition knowledge and estimation of kilojoules: who is getting it right? (#P68)

Tracy McCaffrey 1 , M Dean 2 , M Reid 3 , C Lombard 1 , K L Hamill 1 , J L Willcock 1 , M BE Livingstone 4
  1. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  2. Queens University, Belfast, UK
  3. School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University, VIC, Australia
  4. University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK

Background/Aims: For many consumers, the primary concern when choosing foods to eat out-of-home is value for money. However, the increase in the portion size (PS) of meals served out-of-home has potentially contributed to a distorted perception of appropriate PS and may incite over-eating. The aim was to determine whether consumers with high objective nutrition knowledge (NK) were more likely to correctly identify the energy (kJ) differences between ‘standard’ and ‘large’ serving sizes for 8 eating occasions (EO) using an online quiz.

Methods: The kJ for 8 ‘standard’ EOs were provided and participants had to identify the correct kJ for the ‘large’ EOs. Additional questions included demographics and assessment of objective NK using validated questions.

Results: All questions were completed by 401 adults; predominately females (89%); 18-34yrs (61%); following no special diet (69%). Overall, 12% correctly identified the kJ content for 6-8 of the ‘large’ EO (6EO). Only 29% responded correctly for all objective NK questions, and were not more likely to correctly identify kJ for 6EO (Mean 3.9 ± 1.4 SD Vs 4 ± 1.4, P=0.502). Overall, 59% preferred to use ‘calories’ than ‘kilojoules’ for measuring energy in food.

Conclusions: Preliminary analyses suggest that despite high nutrition knowledge consumers have difficulty correctly estimating kJ difference between ‘standard’ and ‘large’ serving sizes. This suggests there needs to be continued commitment to public health strategies that raise awareness of appropriate portion sizes.

Funding source(s): N/A