Interest of Kuwait University Students in Nutrition Information

Abstract

Young adults need to have a considerable level of nutrition knowledge, for health benefits to themselves and for those in their circles. The objectives of this work were to: assess some nutrition‐related practices, sources of knowledge and level of interest in learning nutrition information. This study involved 1037 first‐year Kuwait University students of both genders and from different colleges. Results of a simple questionnaire revealed that 77% check the expiry date of food products, 49% read lists of food ingredients, 44% read nutrition facts labels, but 39% understand them. Students reported that the main sources of their nutrition knowledge were from parents (88%), schools (75%), friends (66%), and media (49%). Most students (83%) care about nutrition knowledge, 75% want to learn about healthy nutrition, and 73% try to increase such knowledge. Only 45% of students attended lectures or events that promote nutrition and 41% indicated that their college held such events. To enhance their interest in learning more about nutrition, students rely on television (64%) and reading the Ministry of Health publications (61%). As the interest of students in learning more about nutrition is present, more efforts are required to satisfy such. All possible means and instruments that can enhance nutrition education ought to be made available and implemented frequently, for the overall benefits that can be derived.