UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF FATTENING AND DIETING FOODS IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE 4 FOOD GROUPS

A common food classification system used by the public in the United States distinguishes foods as "fattening" or "dieting." We examined how foods in these two categories could be assigned into the Four Food Group system, asking 374 university students to name three fattening and three dieting foods and assigning their responses to the U.S. Four Food Groups (and a residual fat/sugar/alcohol group). Students named 1,119 fattening foods and 1,025 dieting foods, showing no difficulty in using the fattening and dieting classification system. Among fattening foods, 17% were in the dairy group, 9% the meat/protein group, 9% in the grain group, and 4% in the fruit/vegetable group. Almost half (48%) of fattening foods were in the residual fat/sugar/alcohol group, and another 13% were combination dishes not classifiable into any of the food groups. Among dieting foods, 8% were in the dairy group, 18% in the meat/protein group, 3% in the grain group, 63% in the fruit/vegetable group, 5% in the fat/sugar/alcohol group, and 2% were unclassifiable. These patterns of fattening and dieting food classifications in the Four Food Groups suggest that nutrition educators may benefit from considering student food classification systems in providing nutrition education. © 1990 Pergamon Press plc.