Assessment of Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profiles and Nutritional Knowledge Levels of Pre-Service Physical Education and Science Teachers: A Comparative Study Example

Abstract

The study aimed to examine pre-service physical education and science education teachers' health-promoting lifestyle profiles, nutrition habits, knowledge of nutrition levels, and their relationships with some demographic variables (gender, department, smoking, physical activity level). The study is a descriptive study conducted in a government university in Türkiye. The samples consisted of fourth-year pre-service physical teachers (N=37) and pre-service science teachers (N=32). Nutrition Habits Assessment Form, Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II instrument (HPLP II), and Nutrition Knowledge Level for Adults Scale, which consisted of two parts, "Basic Nutrition Scale" and "Food Preference Scale," were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics and parametric tests analyzed data. Considering differences in the physical activity subscale between different departments, a significantly higher score was recorded among pre-service physical education teachers compared to pre-service science teachers. A significantly higher score was observed in the subscales on interpersonal relations and stress management and Basic Nutrition Scale Score among pre-service science teachers compared to pre-service physical education teachers. A significantly higher score was observed in the subscales on physical activity and interpersonal relations among male compared to female students. The HPLP II scores of the pre-service teachers, which exercised three times more than three times a week, were higher than those who egzersize once a week and didn't exercise.