Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing multimodal nutrition education intervention (NEI) to improve dietary intake among university students. The design of study used was cluster randomised controlled design at four public universities in East Coast of Malaysia. A total of 417 university students participated in the study. They were randomly selected and assigned into two arms, that is, intervention group (IG) or control group (CG) according to their cluster. The IG received 10-week multimodal intervention using three modes (conventional lecture, brochures, and text messages) while CG did not receive any intervention. Dietary intake was assessed before and after intervention and outcomes reported as nutrient intakes as well as average daily servings of food intake. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and adjusted effect size were used to determine difference in dietary changes between groups and time. Results showed that, compared to CG, participants in IG significantly improved their dietary intake by increasing their energy intake, carbohydrate, calcium, vitamin C and thiamine, fruits and 100% fruit juice, fish, egg, milk, and dairy products while at the same time significantly decreased their processed food intake. In conclusion, multimodal NEI focusing on healthy eating promotion is an effective approach to improve dietary intakes among university students.
Highlights
The transition from adolescence to young adulthood which is mostly spent at colleges or universities is gaining recognition as an important time for health promotion and disease prevention [1]
Most of them were females; lived with friends, studied in the first year and their studies were funded by National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) or Council of Trust for Indigenous People (MARA)
After controlling for potential confounders, the results showed that intakes of fruits and 100% fruit juice, fish, egg, milk and dairy products were significantly increased in intervention group (IG) compared to control group (CG) after 10 weeks of multimodal nutrition education interventions (NEI)
Summary
The transition from adolescence to young adulthood which is mostly spent at colleges or universities is gaining recognition as an important time for health promotion and disease prevention [1]. University students often fail to meet recommended target for fruits and vegetables (FV) [4, 5], whole grain, milk, and dairy products [6, 7] compared to their adolescence years. Previous researches have shown that class-based NEI [17] and brochures [18] improved dietary habits of university students. When these conventional methods were used alone, Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism they appeared to be successful only in increasing nutrition knowledge and not changing dietary habits remarkably
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