Abstract
Attempts to use attitudes and beliefs held by people as a way of examining the influences on food choice have often failed to show clear relationships because of the lack of a clear theoretical framework. The attitudes model developed by Fishbein and Ajzen is presented as one approach for achieving this. Fat intake has been studied using this approach. It has shown good prediction of consumption of foods contributing highly to fat in the diet and demonstrated the importance of both sensory and nutritional beliefs. General nutritional knowledge has been shown to relate to consumption only to a very limited degree. Initial tests of extensions of this approach, incorporating measures of habit and perceived control, have demonstrated the importance of habit in this area. © 1991.