Your Eating Habit

Try our quiz to find out how well you balance fatty and starchy foods. Use questions 1-14 to find out how much fat you're eating and questions 15-20 to see how much starchy carbohydrate you're getting.

Answer these questions, and be honest with yourself!

1. If you use milk, what type of milk do you generally use? Channel Island  3 Whole 2 Semi-skimmed  1 Skimmed  0

2. Do you use cream? Every day  3 Several times a week  2 About once a week  1   Less then once a week or never  0

3. What fat do you usually use as a spread? Butter or margarine  3 Polyunsaturated spread  3 Monounsaturated spread  2 Low fat spread  1

4. How do you spread this fat on your bread? Thickly  3 Medium  2 A thin scrape  0

5. What do you usually use for cooking and baking? A solid fat, (e.g. lard, dripping, butter or margarine)  4 A mixed or blended vegetable oil  2 A polyunsaturated oil (e.g. corn or sunflower)  1 A monounsaturated oil (e.g. olive or rapeseed)  1

6. How often do you eat processed potatoes (with added fat)? Five or more times a week  3 Two to four times a week 2 Once a week  1 Very occasionally or never  0

7. What type of cheese do you eat most of? High fat, over 25% (Cheddar type, cream cheese,
Danish blue type, Stilton type)  4 Medium fat, under 25% (Camembert type,cheese spread, Edam type, low fat hard cheese)  3 Low fat, less then 10% fat (cottage cheese, curd cheeses)  1 A variety of cheeses 3

8. Do you usually eat: All the fat on meat  4 Some of the fat on meat  3 None of the fat on meat  1

9. How often do you eat fatty meats (e.g. sausages, pies or burgers)?  Six times a week or more  3 Three to five times a week  2 Once or twice a week  1 Very occasionally or never 0

10. When cooking products like bacon or burgers, do you: Grill with added oil or fat £ 3 Grill without added oil or fat  2 Use a grilling machine  1 Only eat very occasionally  1

11. How many times a week do you eat a whole packet of nuts(50g weight)? Six or more  3 Three to five times  2 Once or twice  1 Very occasionally or never  0

12. How many times a week do you eat a whole packet of potato crisps(30g weight)? Six or more times  3 Three to five times  2 Once or twice  1 Very occasionally or never  0

13. How many times a week do you eat cakes or biscuits? Six or more times 3 Three to five times  2 Once or twice  1 Very occasionally or never  0

14. How many times a week do you eat chocolate bars? Six or more times  3 Three to five times  2 Once or twice  1 Very occasionally or never  0

15. What kind of bread or chapattis do you usually eat? Wholemeal, granary or multigrain  3 Brown  2 White  1 A mixture  2

16. How many slices of bread, rolls or chapattis do you eat on a typical weekday? Two to three  6 One to two  4 One  2 Very occasionally or never  0

17. How often do you eat boiled, mashed or jacket potatoes? Four or more times a week  6 Two to three times a week  4 Once or twice a week  2 Very occasionally or never  0

18. How often do you eat rice or pasta (spaghetti, etc)?  Four or more times a week  6 Two to three times a week  4 Once or twice a week  2 Very occasionally or never  0

20. How many times a week do you eat a breakfast cereal: Four or more times  4 Two to three times  3 Once or twice  2 Very occasionally or never  0

HOW DID YOU SCORE?

Now add up your total score for questions 1-14, this is your total A.

Now add up your total score for questions 15-20, this is your total B.If your total A was less than your total B

Well done! Your diet doesn't seem to be too bad at all in terms of fat. You'll probably find that you're already doing most of the right things, but check you are a healthy weight.If your total A was about the same as your total B (to within 1 or 2 points)

You're probably eating a bit too much fat.If your total A was greater than your total B It looks as if you really do need to make changes in your diet.

Look at questions 1–14 which gave you a high score and the questions 15–20 which gave you a low score. These are the areas where you need to change.

Acknowledgement: With thanks to the East Berkshire Health Promotion Team who devised this quiz as part of The Slough Health Habit (1984)