103 High School Students (72 Females, 31 Males)

Very similar results to previous surveys.

Milk

•Which milk is healthiest?
36% chose soy milk and 66% drink it. 53% are afraid of fat in the milk (chose non-fat or low-fat). 10% think whole milk, and 1 girl chose raw milk.

Cholesterol
•80% think that cholesterol is either “a toxic substance found in our arteries” or ”a type of fat in foods, which we should avoid eating”.  8% really didn’t know. 13% picked the right answer: “A substance protecting cell membranes”.  Almost half (46%) of you had heard about “different kinds of cholesterol” – such as HDL (good) and LDL (bad), and lipoprotein was mentioned as well. One wrote that cheerios are good for cholesterol.

Butter and Oils
• NOBODY thinks butter/ghee is good to cook with. 41% think polyunsaturated oils are best to cook with. 45% chose olive oil and 14% canola oil.

Food and Drink Habits
•Few of you (11%) drink soda regularly. 43% drink fruit juice.

•81% eat meat quite often (maybe not grass-fed though) 17% eat meat rather seldom.  3% (3 people) are vegetarian. Nobody is vegan. (Good to hear!)

•“Popular” foods: Rice/Noodles – 84% eat these regularly.  53% usually eat eggs and 52% eat boxed cereals. 17% eat tofu.

•63% eat breakfast every day, 24% 3-5 days a week, and 11% skip breakfast.

•Soy products : 61% eat tofu, 23% eat edamame, 15% eat fermented soy products and 6% eat soy burgers.

Food Labels and Nutritional Information
•86% read food labels always or sometimes (many more females than males read them: 64 vs. 25). 14% (14) never reads them.

•Where do you get your nutritional information from?
Most of you indicated getting it from parents (72%) and health class (66%) followed by websites, health books/magazines. One said “I don’t”! And one got it from “the boy on the back of the box”.

(You will find a summary of  ALL surveys combined under Grazing Pastures.)

Dec 2010 Survey – Very similar results to the previous survey in May 2010.

Most are still afraid of fat in the milk. A large percent (41%) still thinks that soy milk is the healthiest milk to drink, and 52% drink it on a daily basis. A very large percent (85%) didn’t know what cholesterol is. 46% thought polyunsaturated oils were best to cook with (I shiver every time I see this!) and almost nobody (98%) thought butter/ghee was good to cook with. The most encouraging results were that few (13%) drank soda regularly (but many (41%) often drank fruit juice) and 78% ate meat (maybe not grass-fed though..) and there were no vegetarians or vegans. (Glad to hear that!)  More details below.

Milk
Choosing between soy milk and the different kinds of cow milk, 41% thought soy milk to be the healthiest. 85% were afraid of fat in the milk. (More women were afraid of fat in the milk.) 2% (3 people) thought raw milk to be healthiest.

Cholesterol
85% did not know what cholesterol is. 71% thought it was either a toxic substance found in our arteries or a type of fat in foods, which we should avoid eating. 15% chose the right answer which is that cholesterol is a substance protecting cell membranes!

Butter and Oils
98% did not think butter/ghee was good to cook with. 46% thought it was best to cook with polyunsaturated vegetable oils. (I shiver every time I see this!) 40% thought olive oil was best for cooking.

Food and Drink Habits
68% ate breakfast every day. 11% skipped breakfast and the rest had breakfast 2-5 days of the week. 78% ate meat quite often 90% of males, 70% of females. There were no vegetarians or vegans. (Glad to hear that.)

Rice/Noodles were popular food items: 76% ate these on a regular basis, and 51% ate boxed cereals, 43% had eggs, and 17% had tofu on a regular basis.

52% drank soy milk and/or eat tofu. 25% ate edamame and 15% ate any of the fermented soy products, such as miso, tempeh, natto, shoyu, and tamari regularly. 5% ate soy burgers and 16% tried to avoid eating soy.
41% drank fruit juice and 13% drank soda regularly.

Food Labels and Nutritional Information
89% read food labels always or sometimes, and more females than males read them.
Parents are the most important source for health and nutrition advice, followed by health class, websites and books/magazines.

(You will find these under Grazing Pastures as well)

WHAT IS CHOLESTEROL?  WHICH KIND OF MILK IS HEALTHIEST? 

These are some of the questions answered by 226 high school students (143 females, 83 males). 

Below are some of the most significant findings:

Milk
Choosing between soy milk and the different kinds of cow milk, more than half (52%) thought soy milk to be the healthiest. Almost all (92%) were afraid of fat in the milk.

Cholesterol
82% did not know what cholesterol is. 68% thought it was either a toxic substance found in our arteries or a type of fat in foods, which we should avoid eating.

Butter and Oils
98% did not think butter/ghee was good to cook with. More than half (51%) thought it was best to cook with polyunsaturated vegetable oils. 40% thought olive oil was best for cooking.

Food and Drink Habits
66% ate breakfast every day. 14% skipped breakfast and the rest had breakfast 2-5 days of the week.
85% ate meat quite often (92% of males, 80% of females). Only 2% were vegetarians and there were no vegans.
Rice/Noodles were popular food items: 80% ate these on a regular basis, and 50% ate boxed cereals, 45% had eggs, and 19% had tofu. 
Over 60% drank soy milk and/or eat tofu on a regular basis. 23% ate edamame and 14% ate any of the fermented soy products, such as miso, tempeh, natto, shoyu, and tamari regularly.
47% drank fruit juice and 14% drank soda regularly.

Food Labels and Nutritional Information
88% read food labels always or sometimes, and twice as many females as males read them.
For 66% of the students parents are the most important source for health and nutrition advice, followed by health class, websites and books/magazines.

Welcome especially to Lowell High School Students, who this week will listen to my presentation: 

“Don’t Be Afraid Of Fat!” 

There is a special section for you: “Lowell Students” where you can log in and view/print/download the Handouts in class and other “Handouts”. Many of these really need color to look good. 

I would love to hear from you, with feedback, comments or questions on my presentation. 

Was it too long? Did I talk too fast? Anything you would have liked to hear more about?
Something you missed hearing about? What do you remember most? Did you learn anything new? 

If you have comments or questions which you don’t want to post here, please email me at:
lotta@dontbeafraidoffat.com. 

As soon as I can, I will let you know about the results of the survey. 

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