College Students’ Judgment of Others Based on Described Eating Pattern

Background: The literature available on attitudes toward eating patterns and people choosing various foods suggests the possible importance of “moral” judgments and desirable personality characteristics associated with the described eating patterns. Purpose: This study was designed to replicate and extend a 1993 study of college students’ judgments of others based on described dietary fat patterns. Methods: Participants rated male or female peer models described as having low-fat, high-fat, or “good fat” eating habits. Data were analyzed using factorial MANOVA to determine effects of model gender and described eating pattern on two scales: likeability and personal success orientation. Results: The results of this analysis revealed no significant overall effect of model gender. However, there was a significant overall effect of described eating pattern (F(6, 574)=38.48, p<.01). There were no significant model gender by described eating pattern interactions. Low-fat and good-fat male and female models were rated statistically higher on the success orientation scale, but these males were statistically less likeable than high-fat males. Discussion: Perceptions of others, and self-perceptions based on beliefs about others’ attitudes and opinions, are strong influences in the college-age population. Thus, these attitudes may prove to be high barriers to adoption of healthier eating patterns. Translation to Health Education Practice: Understanding such judgments may help health education professionals tailor interventions designed to improve young adults’ eating patterns. In 2004, more than 66% of Americans were classified as overweight or obese. Weight and diet-related chronic disease are recognized as resulting from a combination of energy intake (amount and types of foods consumed) and energy output (level of physical activity). Recent research findings indicate that modest weight loss, achievable through healthy eating patterns and activity levels, prevents the development of Type 2 diabetes better than drug regimens in atrisk people. A great deal of research is available on attitudes toward physical activity and attitudes toward overweight and obese people; thus, in this study, we chose to focus on attitudes toward those who consume certain types of foods, specifically high-fat, low-fat, and “good fat” foods. The literature available on attitudes toward eating patterns and people choosing various foods suggests the possible importance of “moral” judgments and desirable personality characteristics associated with the described eating patterns. Given this knowledge base, the current study was designed to determine the existence of similar types of attitudes in our sample. To do so, we used what Stein and Nemeroff refer to as a “universe of...adjectives,” 8(p483) including some basic personality descriptors borrowed from two lists of traits developed by Asch and Birnbaum. For the current study, it was important to choose variables that would be relevant for college students, with respect to influences on behavioral choices. This focus resulted in the selection of items that would address a person’s perception that a peer was likeable and oriented toward personal success. If young adults view peers who eat a recomRebecca Pearson is an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Human Performance, and Nutrition, Central Washington University, 400 E. University Way, Ellensburg, WA 98926.Michael Young is a professor and associate department head in the Department of Health Science, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, MSC 3HLS, Las Cruces, NM 88003. Rebecca Pearson and Michael Young 214 American Journal of Health Education — July/August 2008, Volume 39, No. 4 mended diet as less likeable or less oriented toward success, they may believe others will view them similarly should they choose such a diet. Such attitudes may negatively influence the likelihood of optimal diet behaviors and other healthy choices, even in the face of information suggesting the benefit of such choices. The food environment, and in particular the nutrition information environment, has changed, even within the last decade. For example, rather than a diet that is low in fat, many medical authorities and nutritionists now advise people to adopt eating patterns that approximate a Mediterranean-style diet—one that includes abundant vegetables and a high olive oil intake, more fish than red meat, and the substitution of other monounsaturated fats for saturated fats. Such a diet has been shown to be of value in reducing the risk of heart disease and many types of cancer. Given this change, it was decided that revisiting prior research with the addition of a Mediterranean-style described eating pattern would fill a gap in the literature regarding attitudes toward those who choose such a diet. Several health behavior models incorporate attitudes toward a given behavior as an important contributor to a person’s potential to make positive behavioral change. Reasonably, attitudes toward a given behavior might be viewed as potentially extending to people who practice the behavior. If a chocolate cake is “decadent,” then a person accepting any, or certainly more than a very small slice, might be considered decadent as well. In the health belief model, perceived benefits and barriers of a given behavioral recommendation may be based in part on attitudes toward the behavior or toward those who practice it. For example, if a young man perceives peers who smoke as popular and fun to be with, smoking might, for him, have fairly significant perceived benefits. Correspondingly, attitudes toward peers who choose a recommended diet might influence attitudes toward the diet itself, resulting in perceived benefits or barriers to adopting the diet. The theory of reasoned action states that a person’s attitudes toward a suggested behavior directly influence his or her intention to perform the behavior. If, as posited above, a student’s attitudes toward a behavior can be extended to a peer who practices the behavior, then these resulting attitudes would inform a student’s behavioral intention. Positive attitudes would predict an intention to perform the behavior, and negative attitudes would predict an intention not to perform the behavior. According to this theory, such an intention is “the most important determinant of behavior.” Knowing the attitudes college students hold toward those who follow the eating patterns promoted by physicians and community health professionals may aid such practitioners in understanding this element of the chronic disease puzzle, and in using established behavioral models to plan more effective diet-improvement strategies. Typically, college students’ eating patterns are either in flux or have only recently been adopted, meaning that college may be an effective intervention point. Additionally, students’ eating behaviors are likely to have taken a turn for the worse since childhood. If this is the case, designing messages and strategies that help this group improve their eating habits has the potential to improve their long-term health outcomes as well as those of their own children in the future, given parental influence on children’s diets. Increasing rates of overweight and obesity, along with rising health care costs, mean health educators and other health professionals must promote diet and activity patterns that will improve population health outcomes. To date, however, nutrition education and the provision of more, and more in-depth, information to the public have not been effective in changing these trajectories. Part of the failure of these approaches to nutrition education may be related to the attitudes people hold toward various dietary patterns and those who practice them. Thus, it seems appropriate to determine current attitudes toward people who choose high-fat, low-fat, and good-fat (Mediterranean-style) dietary patterns. The current study was conducted to replicate and extend a study by Fries and Croyle, who examined stereotypes college students associated with low-fat versus high-fat diets. In their study, students judged a model (hypothetical person) based on gender in combination with a described eating pattern; for example, some participants rated a male described as choosing a low-fat diet, others rated a female described as choosing a low-fat diet, still others rated a male or female choosing a high-fat diet or a male or female without dietary information provided. As discussed above, medical advice is evolving regarding dietary fat intake, so it is appropriate to revisit this work. The current study extends the research through the addition of a Mediterranean, or good-fat, dietary pattern. This continued research is important because the examination of attitudes toward people who have adopted different dietary patterns will allow us to identify possible barriers to healthy eating.