Faculty of Education - Theses

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The implications of adolescent food practices and attitudes for the nutrition educator

Riddell, S. R ( 1984)

This study examines food practices and attitudes to food of adolescents. A stratified random sample of year nine students from Catholic, non-Catholic Independent and Government schools was constructed, with socio-economic status as one of the criteria of choice. The study makes a contribution to the understanding of the way in which year nine students relate to questions of food consumption and production. In addition, the study explores the extent to which nutrition educators should bear in mind the class, culture and gender of students. Constraints established by classroom practices and family organisation are shown to be significant, as are the small scale relations within adolescent. sub-culture. Because students are found to be unsure of the proportions of a balanced diet, recommendations are made to nutrition educators so that they might assist their students in the recognition of the long-term effects of poor nutrition. Formal education is not seen as the sole influence on food knowledge. The power of the media as a nutrition educator is recognised, images created by media being paralleled by some of the food behaviours apparent in the students.