Promoting healthy eating habits through awareness campaigns in Poland

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of young people about social campaigns related to food and nutrition using as an example the campaigns ‘I know what I choose’, ‘The labeling of food products with GDA’ and ‘Cool kids do not eat junk food’.

Material and methods: The survey was conducted in a group of elementary school students, junior high, and high school students. The final analysis of the survey enrolled 463 people whose questionnaires were completed correctly and returned. Schools participating in the study were randomized from all types of schools.

Results: 63.9% of respondents demonstrated knowledge of the logo used in the campaign, ‘I know what I choose’. The respondents were asked about a list of foods which had the information of the Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA). 72.0% of students, 42.1% of middle school students, 41.9% of high school students and 29.4% of primary school children were able to identify the product with GDA.

Conclusions: Among the respondents, the detailed knowledge of each campaign was not satisfactory. The campaigns ‘Cool kids do not eat junk food’ and ‘I know what I choose’ were among the most well-known in the group of pupils in primary school and students. The GDA campaign was the best known in the group of students, but the ability to use the GDA label properly was low. In the study group, body weight did not significantly affect the level of knowledge about social campaigns. However, it was observed that the campaign ‘I know what I choose’ is better known by persons of normal weight than among people who are overweight or obese.