Stages of dietary change and nutrition attitudes in the Spanish population

A national survey was developed in a representative sample of the Spanish p opulation (15 years old and upwards). This study belongs to a partnership i n a pan-European survey about stages of dietary change where subjects were classified into six different categories according to their readiness for d ietary change: precontemplation (not considering any changes), contemplatio n (considering changes), decision (making plans to change), action (carryin g out the changes), maintenance (maintaining changes for more than six mont hs) and relapse stage (reverting back to eating less healthily). The main objective was to investigate the distribution of the different sta ges of change concerning dietary habits across strata of socio-demographic variables (sex, age, educational level, socioeconomic level). Also, this st udy was conducted to assess the relationships between stages of dietary cha nge and the influences on food choice as well as the definitions used to de scribe healthy eating. The survey was carried out, according to an established protocol, on a repr esentative sample of 1009 Spanish subjects selected by an at random multist age procedure. Subjects completed a face-to-face interview-assisted questio nnaire. To ensure representativeness data were weighted by population size, by sex, age and regional distribution. The proportion of subjects in precontemplation (56.0%) and maintenance (28. 3%) stages was substantially larger than in the other stages of dietary cha nge. More males (59.7%) and subjects from the oldest age groups (65.8%) wer e classified as belonging to the precontemplation stage, while more females (30.2%) and subjects between 25-34 years of age (34.5%) were in the mainte nance stage. 'Trying to eat healthy' as an influence on food choice was mor e frequently mentioned by those in the dynamic and maintenance stages, whil e a high percentage of subjects from the precontemplation and relapse stage s (61.1%) agreed they did not need to make changes to their diets because t heir diet was already sufficiently healthy. A very high proportion of the Spanish adult population do not contemplate a change in their dietary habits. Intervention strategies in health promotio n programs should be available for people at the various stages of change. It would be more effective to attempt to increase people's awareness and pe rsonal concerns about nutrition and health, before introducing action strat egies. Implications for research and practice: The adult population can be classif ied into different stages of dietary change, so the stages of change model may be applied to future nutrition interventions. This approach will help t o focus more accurately strategies of nutrition education.