Sources of information about diet and health in a Mediterranean country: Comparison with other European member states

Background: A Pan-European survey was carried out to assess the main sources of information about healthy diet in the European population and to assess whether these sources differ between a Mediterranean country and other European populations. Methods: This study belongs to a Pan-European survey on Attitudes to Food, Nutrition and Health. A multistage sampling procedure was used. Each subject was asked about the main sources of information on healthy eating. The survey was completed between October 1995 and February 1996 in the 15 member states of the European Union. The questionnaire was completed by 14,331 persons, approximately 1,000 from each member state. Data were quota controlled by sociodemographic factors and all results were weighted for the purpose of maintaining national representativeness. The participants were asked to indicate which sources they used more often out of a list with 22 options. They were allowed to select a maximum of two sources. Results: The source of information 'television programmes or radio' was more prevalent in the rest of the member states of the European Union (30.9%) than in Spain (25.7%). 'Health professionals' were mentioned with similar frequency as a source of information in Spain and in the rest of the European Union. Conclusions: Our results confirm that mass media play an important role in transferring messages about healthy eating to the general public. Increasing the circulation of newspapers in Spain, where a low level of newspaper reading exists, would probably improve the knowledge of the general public.