| Abstract
| - Six hundred and seventy seven respondents to a random population mail survey of diet and health beliefs were asked to rate the perceived reliability of health information from each of 18 sources, and to indicate whether they had referred to these sources in the previous year. The results showed that the family doctor and pharmacist were generally regarded as the most reliable sources, whereas TV advertisements, newspaper and magazine articles were among the least reliable. Factor analysis of these ratings suggested that the sources could be differentiated into three groups: (i)formal sources, e.g. family doctors, pharmacists, chiropractors and natural therapists; (ii) informal sources, e.g. friends and relatives; and (iii) commercial and media sources, e.g. health food shop personnel, fitness instructors and newspaper articles. Several socio-demographic differences were observed in the respondents' perceptions of these three groups, e.g. young people rated the reliability of commercial, media and unorthodox formal sources more highly than other respondents. The results suggest that the public do not sharply distinguish orthodox sources from ‘alternative’ sources. All formal sources, particularly family doctors and pharmacists, have major potential for dissemination of health information, although they may be more attractive to some social groups than others.
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