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Nutrition education programmes are designed to improve nutrition knowledge, with the aim of supporting sound dietary intake within the community or a specific target population(1-4). Nutrition education is widespread, with schools, government and health promotion agencies delivering a range of messages that incorporate a nutrition component(5). Members of the community in most industrialised countries are exposed to education about dietary guidelines or core food group intake. Specific education to prevent or manage lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, CVD or cancer is also widely available(6-8). Despite the wide scope of nutrition education initiatives, it is somewhat surprising that relatively few studies have evaluated the level of nutrition knowledge in the general community or other specific group samples, and that the impact of nutrition knowledge on dietary intake is still largely unexplored.
Numerous factors including taste, convenience, food cost or security and cultural or religious beliefs influence dietary intake(4,9-12). Factors that are well known to influence nutrition knowledge include age, sex, level of education and socio-economic status(12). Women tend to have higher levels of nutrition knowledge than men, and this difference has been attributed to their more dominant role in food purchasing and preparation or a lower interest in nutrition by men(9,11,12). Higher levels of nutrition knowledge have been reported in those with higher education or socio-economic status(5,10,12)and greater levels of nutrition knowledge have been typically found in middle-aged as opposed to younger or older persons(4,9,12). These demographic factors also influence dietary intake(11). The specific contribution of nutrition knowledge to the overall quality of food intake is considered to be complex and is influenced by the interaction of many demographic and environmental factors(11). However, greater understanding of the relationship between nutrition knowledge and dietary intake is important as emerging evidence supports a strong link between low health literacy, poor management of chronic disease and increased health costs(13