Dietary Preferences and Nutritional Information Needs Among Career Firefighters in the United States

Justin Yang, Andrea Farioli, Maria Korre, Stefanos N Kales, Justin Yang, Andrea Farioli, Maria Korre, Stefanos N Kales

Abstract

Background: Considerable cardiovascular disease and cancer risk among firefighters are attributable to excess adiposity. Robust evidence confirms strong relationships between dietary patterns and the risk of chronic disease. Dietary modification is more likely to be effective when the strategy is appealing and addresses knowledge gaps.

Objective: To assess career firefighters' diet practices and information needs, compare the relative appeal of proposed diet plans, and examine how these vary in association with body composition.

Methods: Cross-sectional, online survey distributed to members of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Results: Most firefighters do not currently follow any specific dietary plan (71%) and feel that they receive insufficient nutrition information (68%), but most are interested in learning more about healthy eating (75%). When presented with written descriptions of diets without names or labels and asked to rank them in order of preference, firefighters most often rated the Mediterranean diet as their favorite and gave it a more favorable distribution of relative rankings (P<.001) compared to the Paleo, Atkins, Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, and Esselsteyn Engine 2 (low-fat, strictly plant-based) diets. Obese respondents reported more limited nutritional knowledge (P<.001) and were more likely to feel that they received insufficient nutritional information (P=.021) than participants with normal body weight.

Conclusions: Most career firefighters are overweight or obese and do not practice a specific diet; however, 75% want to learn more about healthy eating. Among popular dietary choices, firefighters were most receptive to a Mediterranean diet and least receptive to a strictly plant-based diet.

Keywords: Firefighters; diet; nutrition; preference.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Respondents' rank order favorability ratings of the 5 proposed diet descriptions in percentages, with 1 representing most favored and 5 representing least favored diet (N= 3172). Abbreviation: TLC, Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Diet favorability indices for all subjects as well as stratified by self-reported body mass index. Favorability was calculated by group probability of high rankings (1st or 2nd) minus group probability of low rankings (4th or 5th). Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; TLC, Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes.

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