Resources Utilized by People to Obtain General Nutrition Information

K. Jurek, BS, K. Chiles, BS, RD, A. DeMage MS, RD

ARAMARK Distance Learning Dietetic Internship Program, Houston, TX
Abstract
In the past few decades there has been a significant increase in the rate of obesity and
other diet-related health ailments. With the increase in these chronic diseases, there
has been a shift towards healthier diet and lifestyle habits. People are turning to
various resources to obtain nutrition information to better their eating habits. This has
created a new avenue for nutrition professionals, or Registered Dietitians, to transmit
evidence-based nutrition recommendations to people. This study sought to identify
commonly used resources utilized by people for nutrition information. A quick and
easy survey was created for willing volunteers at CHI Baylor St. Lukes Medical
Centers Bertner Avenue Caf to complete and help identify common resources. In
addition,
the survey sought to evaluate the ability of people to identify valid and
.
reliable resources. Basic statistical analysis was used to evaluate the results of the
completed surveys. Results indicate that 68% of people use basic search engine
websites when searching for nutrition information. Further, 30% of responders
identified the websites results on these search engines as the most reliable sources of
information. This study provides insight for potential professional growth for
Registered Dietitians in the future.

Introduction
Nutrition professionals are experiencing an increased interest.
This is due to the increasing rate of chronic diseases that are closely
related to diet patterns.
more than one-third of Americans are obese, which accounts for over a billion dollars
in healthcare costs1.
Heart disease is the leading cause of deaths in the United States and is responsible for
600,000 deaths a year2.
With the increasing presence of television, the Internet, social media, etc. access to
reliable information is becoming increasingly more difficult to find.
Television has been identified as the number one source of nutrition information,
closely followed by magazines and the Internet3.
With the increasing presence of technology, which makes the World Wide Web
available at virtually all times, the Internet is quickly becoming the main media to
transmit information.
Health information literacy can be described as the set of skills required to identify the
need for health information, recognize sources for information and use these resources
to retrieve pertinent information to make decisions regarding health4.
Health literacy has allowed people to become more independent in their
search for information, but the available information could be unreliable.
The primary tools used to research information are search engines such as Google,
Bing, Yahoo, and Ask.com found on the Internet.
These websites rank more reliable resources below other websites5.
The use of nonelectronic media such as books, newspapers, pamphlets and other
printed resources need to be included in this evaluation.
Pamphlets were identified as the number one source of nutrition
information in cancer patients6.

Methodology
A cross sectional design was used to gather data providing
insight on this topic.
Visitors to Bertner Caf located in the basement of Baylor St.
Lukes were asked to complete a quick survey regarding
methods used to obtain nutrition information.
Basic convenience sample method was used for subject
recruitment and this only provides data for a specific time and
place.
Inclusion criteria

Between the ages of 18-65

Non nutrition professionals

Survey questions designed to obtain information on education,

age, occupation, and resources used to obtain nutrition
information.
This study was deemed exempt by CHI Baylor St. Lukes Medical
Center IRB group.

Results
Primary Results:
The results of the data collection indicate that 68% of people
use basic internet search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing!, etc) to
answer all questions pertaining to nutrition information.
30% identified basic websites as the most reliable sources and
29% identified government sponsored websites as the most
reliable.
Secondary Results:
58% of the 18-34 year-old group use Internet search engines to
find nutrition information, but research articles and basic
websites were identified as the most reliable resources.
Of the 35-54 year-old group, 34% and 24% identified
government sponsored websites and research articles
respectively as the most reliable resources for nutrition
information.
For the 55-65 year-old group the internet was the primary
source of nutrition information, and 53% identified basic
websites as the most reliable resource.

Discussion
The results indicate that the primary tool used to obtain nutrition information is the
Internet. However, there was varying abilities to identify reliable resources.
These results are concerning because there is no regulating the information allowed
on the Internet and it is not always reliable or evidence-based recommendations.
Research indicates that information available on the internet is incomplete or
inaccurate and this could be very detrimental to people looking for nutrition
information.

This provides a unique opportunity for healthcare professionals to transmit

reliable and evidence-based information.

Government agencies and other public health organizations are beginning to utilized
social media resources to put health information out there for people.
Despite the use of social media by these organizations, there reach of social media is
limited and it is not guaranteed that people will adhere to the recommendations.
Limitations
Survey was only distributed to hospital guests and provided access to a very limited
population for the study.
Survey was not evaluated and could have missed important information needed for
the study.
Some participants who completed the survey did not complete the survey correctly
and several had to be thrown out due to this.
Future Research
An evaluation of results made available on the major internet search engines to
evaluate the validity of the top results.

Conclusion
Study provides great insight on different resources used by people looking for
nutrition information.
There is a major opportunity for nutrition professionals to utilize these resources to
provide nutrition recommendations that are evidence-based and supported by
research.
Additional education to enable people to have the confidence and skills to identify
reliable resources when using Internet resources.
The growing presence of the Internet is something that could be beneficial for
healthcare professionals to utilize.

Contact Information
Research Question/Objective
Where are people who are looking for basic information on nutrition going to
find this information? Are they able to determine which resources provide
evidence based information versus unsupported nutrition information?

For additional information, please contact:

ARAMARK Dietetic Intern
Karleigh Jurek
karleighjurek@gmail.com

RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN 2012

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