DIETARY KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOR AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

In 1989, 674 schoolchildren aged 12-14 years in nine elementary school s in a municipality in Copenhagen, Denmark. answered a questionnaire a bout their dietary habits and knowledge. The majority of the pupils ha d fruit (87%), vegetables (72%), rye bread (81%), and drank fat-reduce d milk (73%) every day. A dict score (reliability = 0.58) was calculat ed on the basis of the intake of 8 food items relevant to current diet ary recommendations.There were no age and sex differences as to dietar y habits, but immigrant children had a lower diet score than native ch ildren. Dietary knowledge was measured by the ability to state correct ly whether 11 different food items had a high content or nol of fat, s ugar or dietary fibres. Dietary knowledge was highest for questions ab out fat and sugar. A knowledge score measured the number of correct an swers to all 33 questions (reliability = 0.90). Knowledge was highest among older children, native children, and children with the most heal thy dietary habits. In the multivariate regression analysis, knowledge , health attitudes and ethnicity were the only significant predictors of dietary behaviour. It is concluded that both social and personal fa ctors are important for dietary behaviour, and health promotion in chi ldren should include other methods than educational programmes.