USAF Food Habits Study. Part IV. Selections, Quantities Selected, and Perceived Portion Sizes

摘要

This report presents results of the 3rd of 3 data collection efforts undertaken at Travis AFB to provide information describing the food habits of AF personnel. The report focuses on food selections, quantities of food selected, and perceptions of the sizes of food portions as they are made available. The Food Selection Questionnaire was modified for the present study to allow the respondent to report having selected as many as three servings of a food, and to allow the respondent to indicate his perception of serving sizes. It was administered during two breakfast meals and four noon meals. Food selections of whites and blacks and males and females for certain food items tended to be consistent with 1977 food preference data, and the number of servings of food selected tended to be related to the perceived portion size as well as to the 1977 food preference data. Perceived portion size tended to be inversely related to the food preferences. In all instances, correlations were most meaningful for foods preferred by whites. Whole milk, tacos, grilled bacon, and carbonated beverages were among the most frequently selected foods. Based on self-reported weights and the Metropolitan Life Tables, half of the males were overweight (OW) while the majority of white females were average weight (AW). When the weight tables were adjusted for clothing, the majority of the personnel sampled were OW. In contrast to the AW who attended the dining halls, the OW tended to select high-density, saturated fatty foods. Results based on 1977 food diaries indicated that the OW tended to eat a greater number of breakfasts across a three-day period than did lighter respondents.