Young Irish people equate healthy eating with dieting and weight loss, according to new research to be published tomorrow.
Young People and Food - Adolescent's Dietary Beliefs and Understandings, commissioned by Safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board, found that girls had a healthier diet than boys and participants from more affluent backgrounds had a better diet compared to those from lower income groups.
Most participants had a broad understanding of good dietary practices, though girls were better informed. Those from more affluent families did not show any higher knowledge levels.
The research also reveals that while today's young people are well informed about the long term dangers of a junk food diet, they still rate chips, chocolate and crisps as their favourite foods.
Participants in the study, directed Dr Karen Trew, Queen's University Belfast, ranged in age from 12 - 18 and sampled 2,131 girls and 1,305 boys on both sides of the border.
Those in the Republic reported a better diet than their Northern Ireland counterparts but those from the North had much greater knowledge levels despite their poorer reported diet.
"When looking at young people's reasons for food choices, taste and other sensory qualities of food were the primary determinants of choice rather than knowledge of expert opinion. The majority of adolescents reported a preference for energy dense foods such as fast food and sweets on this basis," the report says.
The trend among respondents is also to view healthy foods as "good" but lacking in taste; while unhealthy foods are tasty but "bad". "The idea that some foods are inherently good or bad meant that few adolescents had an understanding that all foods were acceptable as part of a well-balanced diet," the study says.
The second most common influence on diet for adolescents after taste was consideration of weight gain. "Obesity was viewed extremely negatively and weight control was associated with self esteem and attractiveness."
While looked to exercise as a means of weight control girls tended to regard food intake as the principle means. Respondents were also found to regard the health implications of diet a matter for people when they are older.
These findings will be presented tomorrow at 'New Insights', a one day conference organized by Safefood. A second study, 'Food Risk Communication Report' will be presented which shows that homemakers over 45, who would have studied home economics in school, were less well informed about best food hygiene practice in the home compared to other sections in society.
Safefood chief executive said: "We all live in an increasingly information-rich age and while many more people possess at least the basic knowledge about food safety and the dangers of a diet high in fat and salt, the reasons why our lifestyle choices don't reflect this are complex and varied.
"The research being presented at this seminar will help us understand some of the factors underlying this gap between knowledge and lifestyle choices."