Women's self-concept of and real knowledge about nutrition: A cross-sectional study

Lifestyle in Western countries has significantly changed during recent decades. These and other factors have increased the prevalence of overweight and obesity, leading to a higher risk of noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. A balanced diet has been shown to predict better health, so several public healthcare strategies aim to encourage "healthy" food choices. To assess self-concept of knowledge about nutrition compared to factual knowledge and knowledge implementation in daily life. Cross-sectional cohort study with a total of 524 Swiss women recruited, of which 447 women met the inclusion criteria for the final analysis. Main outcome measure: a self-constructed questionnaire was used to evaluate subjective and objective knowledge about healthy nutrition and its practical application. Subgroup analyses utilized Fisher's test for categorical and Mann-Whitney- test for metric/ordinal. Most participants sourced their nutritional information predominantly from nonexperts. While the majority believed they were well-educated about nutrition, this self-assessment was only partially accurate. The "nutrition pyramid" concept was widely recognized, and correct assignment of food items to dominant macronutrient components was generally accurate. However, understanding of food category ranking by optimal daily intake and composing a healthy diet was lacking. Higher education levels correlated with better objective nutrition knowledge (