Food and Nutrition Myths among Future Secondary School Teachers: A Problem of Trust in Inadequate Sources of Information

Vanessa P. Moreno-Rodríguez, Roberto Sánchez-Cabrero, Alfonso Abad-Mancheño, Almudena Juanes-García and Fernando Martínez-López
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Vanessa P. Moreno-Rodríguez: Department of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Applied Languages, Villanueva de la Cañada, Alfonso X the Wise University, 28691 Madrid, Spain
Roberto Sánchez-Cabrero: Interfacultative Department of Evolutionary Psychology and Education, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Alfonso Abad-Mancheño: Department of Modern Language Studies, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC 27410, USA
Almudena Juanes-García: Education Department of the Government of Madrid, Equipo de Orientación Educativa y Psicopedagógica General de Getafe, C/Montserrat Caballé, 2, 28903 Madrid, Spain
Fernando Martínez-López: Department of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Applied Languages, Villanueva de la Cañada, Alfonso X the Wise University, 28691 Madrid, Spain

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: The Internet and social networks are full of nutrition information, offering people guidance to make healthy eating choices. These sources always present themselves as a gateway to reliable information on healthy eating; however, too often this is not the case. Far from being trustworthy, there are usually plenty of food myths. A food myth is a widespread false belief about food, nutrition, and eating facts that gives rise to certain behaviors, from fashionable trends to diets. Academic training is a valuable tool to combat food myths and the pseudoscience linked to them, but educators must participate in this battle. To test this idea, we analyzed the prevalence of nine highly popular food myths held by 201 secondary school Spanish teachers. The aim was to assess whether expertise in science areas prevents teachers from falling into these food misconceptions. Our study results showed that food myths are held regardless of specialty area. The power of the media in popularizing and spreading nutrition myths among educators may be the cause, even more potent than academic training. We conclude that since scientific knowledge is not enough to erase food myths, we need further actions if we aim to prevent the problems that food myths may cause.

Keywords: food; nutrition; nutrition myths; healthy habits; secondary teachers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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