STAGES OF DIETARY CHANGE AMONG NATIONALLY-REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES OF ADULTS IN THE EUROPEAN-UNION

Objective: To investigate the distribution across the different stages of change for each of the 15 participating European countries, and th e effect of socio-demographic variables such as sex and education on t his distribution. Also to assess the relationships between stages of c hange and influences of food choice, and other variables. Design: A cr oss-sectional study in which quota-controlled, nationally-representati ve samples of approximately 1000 adults from each country completed a face-to-face interview-assisted questionnaire. Setting: The survey was conducted between October 1995 and February 1996 in the 15 member sta tes of the European Union. Subjects: 14 331 subjects (aged 15 y upward s) completed the questionnaire. Data were weighted by population size for each country and by sex, age and regional distribution within each member state. Subjects were divided into five different categories ac cording to their attitudes towards 'changing their eating habits in or der to eat healthier': (1) Precontemplation; do not consider any chang es, (2) Contemplation; consider changes, (3) Decision; make plans to c hange, (4) Action; carry out the changes, and (5) Maintenance; maintai ned changes for more than six months. Results: 52% of the subjects wer e in the precontemplation stage, whereas 31% of the subjects were in t he maintenance stage. Two, one, and seven percent of subjects were in the contemplation, decision and action stage, respectively. In the Med iterranean countries, and in Germany, there were more people (55-64%) in the precontemplation stage, whereas in the Scandinavian countries t here were less people in precontemplation stage (20-38%). The opposite was true for the maintenance stage, whereas women and people with a h igher education level tended to be more in the maintenance stage. With respect to influences on food choice, subjects in precontemplation st age found that taste was more important, whereas people in maintenance stage found that health was more important. Conclusions: The stages o f change model makes a useful distinction between people with differen t attitudes towards nutrition and health. Nutrition education can bene fit from this distinction.