A técnica de Associação de Palavras foi utilizada para analisar a percepção que 120 consumidores uruguaios tinham em relação a diferentes tipos de chocolate. Da mesma forma, estimou-se o quão saudável os consumidores percebiam cada tipo de chocolate: escuro, branco e ao leite. Como um produto genérico, o chocolate foi associado com bom gosto, sentimentos positivos, doçura, sensação de calor e calorias/energia. Chocolates dos tipos branco, escuro e ao leite foram significativamente associados com outros conceitos (cremosidade, amargura, sabor intenso, etc.). Uma análise de agrupamento foi realizada na pontuação em relação à saudabilidade percebida, reportada pelos consumidores. Três grupos foram identificados: Grupo 1 - não percebem qualquer um dos três tipos de chocolate como sendo muito saudável; Grupo 2 - consideram o chocolate escuro como muito saudável e o chocolate branco foi considerado como menos saudável; Grupo 3 - percebem os três tipos de chocolate como muito saudáveis. A técnica de Associação de Palavras permitiu identificar as diferenças entre as associações feitas por cada grupo.

The Word Association technique was used to analyze the perception of 120 Uruguayan consumers concerning the different types of chocolate. Similarly, it was estimated how healthy consumers perceived dark, white and milk chocolate to be. As a generic product, chocolate was associated with good taste, positive feelings, sweetness, feelings of warmth and calories/energy. White, dark and milk chocolate were significantly associated with other concepts (creaminess, bitterness, intense taste, etc.). A cluster analysis was performed on the scores regarding the perceived healthiness as reported by the consumers. 3 clusters were identified: Cluster 1 did not perceive any of the three types of chocolate to be very healthy, Cluster 2 considered dark chocolate to be very healthy but white chocolate to be less healthy and Cluster 3 perceived the three types of chocolate as very healthy. The Word Association technique enabled us to identify the differences between the associations made by each cluster.

El presente estudio investiga los conocimientos nutricionales de una muestra de la población de consumidores en Uruguay y su frecuencia de consumo de alimentos. 270 individuos completaron una adaptación local del General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire de Parmenter & Wardle y contestaron una encuesta sobre su frecuencia de consumo de 39 grupos de alimentos. Por medio de un Análisis de Conglomerados se identificaron 2 grupos de participantes con diferente nivel de conocimientos nutricionales: el clúster 1 (n = 177) y el clúster 2 (n = 93), quienes proporcionaron un valor promedio de 73.6% y 52.9% de respuestas correctas, respectivamente. Los grupos se diferenciaron en forma significativa (p ≤ 0.05) en su distribución por edad y nivel de educación, estando el clúster 1 compuesto principalmente por adultos mayores y con mayor nivel de estudios. Algunas áreas del conocimiento fueron extremadamente pobres, como ser el conocimiento sobre el número de porciones de frutas y verduras que se deberían consumir por día y el aporte calórico de los distintos nutrientes. En términos generales, los conocimientos nutricionales influyeron positivamente en la frecuencia de consumo de alimentos, dado que la población que presentó mayores conocimientos nutricionales declaró un mayor consumo de frutas y verduras y de alimentos de bajo tenor graso y un menor consumo de alimentos con alto contenido de grasas y azúcares.

The relationship between nutritional knowledge and the consumption frequency of preferred food-types was studied among one sample of Uruguayan consumers. A locally-adapted version of Parmenter & Wardle's General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire and a food consumption survey based on 39 food groups were completed by a total of 270 participants. Cluster Analysis enabled the identification of two clusters showing different levels of nutritional knowledge -cluster 1 (n = 177) and cluster 2 (n = 93), providing an average of 73.6% and 52.9% of correct answers, respectively. These clusters differed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) in age and educational distribution .cluster 1 was composed mainly by older adults and persons with a higher educational level. A number of areas were identified where nutritional knowledge was extremely poor, as was the case with the recommended daily fruit and vegetable intake and the caloric content of the nutrients. Overall, nutritional knowledge was found to have a positive influence on food preferences and consumption frequency, those participants with a higher nutritional knowledge reporting a higher consumption of fruits, vegetables and low-fat products, in addition to a lower consumption of high-fat and high-sugar foods.