title: An assessment of basic nutrition knowledge of adolescents with eating disorders and their parents.
abstract: Objective: This study aims to determine and compare the level of basic nutrition knowledge of adolescents with eating disorders and their parents to adolescents without eating disorders and their parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  This six-month convenience based survey recruited a total of 182 adolescents with and without an eating disorder and their parents. The surveys were conducted in a suburban adolescent medicine office. Main outcome measures were based on the 18 basic nutrition questions, while means, standard deviations, Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, and χ2 were all employed for the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  None of the groups correctly answered more than half of the questions. In terms of the percentage of correct responses, there was a statistically significant difference between adolescents with eating disorders and their parents compared with adolescents without an eating disorder and their parents. Fewer than 16% of respondents in each group correctly answered the recommended daily caloric balance of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a deficiency in basic nutrition knowledge among adolescents with and without eating disorders and their parents. A significant increase in basic nutrition education needs to occur in order to increase the understanding of what is a "healthy" diet.
authors.forename: Marigold
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feinstein
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002151:Calorimetry; D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D010290:Parents