Nutrition Attitude Scores Research Articles

Altı-sekiz yaş çocukların beslenme tutum ve davranışlarının değerlendirilmesi

The aim of thisThis study isaims to evaluate the nutritional attitudes and behaviorsbehaviours of 6-8 years -year-old children. A total of 347 students, 183 boys and 164 girls, aged 6-8, participated in the study. Data were collected by applying a survey form, including the Nutrition Attitude Scale and the Nutrition Behavior Scale, which questioned the demographic characteristics of the children, by the researcher. The children's Nutrition Attitude Scale mean score was 13.83±2.03, and their Nutrition Behavior Scale score was 2.57±4.53. A weak correlation was found between the children's nutritional attitude scores and their eating behaviorbehaviour scores (r=0.212, p<0.001). As a result of the study, it was seen that the healthy eating habits of the children participating in the study were at a moderate level. The results of this study show the need for interventions for children to have and maintain positive nutritional attitudes and behaviorsbehaviours.

Nutritional Behaviour of Adolescents and the Impact of Covid-19 on A Diet in Saudi Arabia

Background In recent decades, changes in food consumption among adolescents in Arabic speaking countries, including The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has resulted in increased burden of overweight and obesity. COVID-19 related restrictions have further impacted lifestyle and diet among adolescents in KSA. Aim The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, behaviour and dietary patterns of adolescents and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions on these behaviours. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in six intermediate schools among 1500 adolescents (11-15 years) via an anonymous online survey. The Chi Square test was used to compare gender stratified nutritional knowledge, attitude and behaviour of adolescents and the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions. To determine the factors associated with nutritional change during COVID-19 lockdown, logistic regression was employed using the categorisation of nutritional change during COVID-19 restrictions versus no change in univariate and multivariate analyses. Results A good level of nutrition-related knowledge and attitude was demonstrated both by female and male students, with 66% and 57% of participants scoring above the median of the total possible knowledge and attitude score, respectively. After adjusting for all variables, higher nutrition knowledge score predicted students to be less likely to report increased food consumption during COVID-19 restrictions, whereas students with higher nutrition attitude scores and with a higher risk of increased food consumption were more likely to increase food consumption during COVID-19 restrictions. Conclusions Unhealthy dietary habits among Saudi adolescents are of paramount public health concern and the COVID-19 restriction period exacerbated the pre-pandemic nutrition-related unhealthy behaviours. Therefore, school-based interventions aiming to promote healthy lifestyles and the wellbeing of Saudi adolescents and use of qualitative recall dietary diary is also crucial to develop programs that prevent unhealthy lifestyles in adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

A Contextual Nutrition Education Program Improves Nutrition Knowledge and Attitudes of South African Teachers and Learners.

Background: Evaluating the impact of a nutrition education program could provide insight into the effectiveness of an intervention. Researchers tested the hypothesis that a theory-based contextual nutrition education program (NEP) would improve the nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and dietary practices (KAP) of teachers and learners.Methods: Twenty three teachers who taught nutrition in Grades 4–7 (treatment school, n = 12) and 681 learners (treatment school, n = 350) participated in the study. In this quasi-experimental study, two primary schools were randomly selected to implement a contextual NEP. The nutrition KAP were assessed using previously validated questionnaires. The treatment school teachers taught nutrition using a developed nutrition education manual, while the control school teachers taught nutrition in the usual manner. Random effects Generalized Least Squares regression estimated the difference in the teachers' and learners' KAP for the treatment and control schools; p = 0.025 for a one-tailed test.Results: At post-implementation, the treatment school teachers' had higher total nutrition knowledge mean score (85.5% ± 8.2, p = 0.003) compared to the control school. Within the treatment school, total nutrition knowledge mean score of the teachers improved by 14.1%, p ≤ 0.001. Learners in the treatment school had higher total nutrition knowledge (53.2% ± 16.9, p = 0.002) and nutrition attitude (63.9% ± 19.7, p = 0.001) scores compared to learners in the control school. Within the treatment school, learners' total nutrition knowledge and nutrition attitudes scores increased by 4.9%, p ≤ 0.001 and 6.9%, p ≤ 0.001, respectively. The dietary practices of the teachers and the learners, and the nutrition attitudes of the teachers in the treatment school showed no significant within school improvement or in comparison with the control school (p > 0.025).Conclusions: The NEP led to the improvement in the teachers' and the learners' nutrition knowledge and the learners' nutrition attitudes. However, no significant improvement in the dietary practices of either teachers or learners was found.

Survey on nutritional knowledge, attitude and practice of medical staff in the nerve profession

Objective To investigate nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practice (K-A-P) of medical staff in the nerve-related departments in Hebei province, with the aim of determining a basis for the effective education of nutrition. Methods A multicenter, observational study was utilized to conduct a questionnaire survey. 642 medical staff in nerve-related departments from 15 hospitals in 11 prefecture level cities was surveyed from September 2016 to March 2017 in Hebei Province. Results were statistically analyzed. Results The overall scores of nutrition knowledge, attitude, and practice were 34.88±22.90, 69.14±16.75 and 42.86±18.22, respectively. There were positive correlations between nutrition knowledge and attitude (r=0.150, P<0.001), knowledge and practice (r=0.152, P<0.001), and attitude and practice (r=0.432, P<0.001). The nutrition knowledge score of male medical staff was higher than that of female (t=3.546, P<0.01) however, there was no significant difference between males and females in nutrition attitude and practice scores (t=0.685, P=0.494; t=1.649, P=0.091). In addition, the nutrition knowledge scores of physicians and medical technicians were significantly higher than that of nurses (F=46.89, P<0.01) while the nutrition practice scores of physicians were significantly higher than both medical technicians and nurses (F=7.85, P<0.01). It was also found that nutrition attitude scores of senior and secondary medical staff were higher than junior medical staff (F=5.116, P=0.002) and nutrition practice scores of senior and secondary senior medical staff were higher than that of junior medical staff (F=4.074, P=0.007). Furthermore, it was found that nutrition knoledge scores of undergraduate, master and doctoral degree staff were higher than that of junior college staff (F=15.617, P<0.001) and nutrition attitude score of undergraduate and master degree staff were significantly higher than that of junior college staff (F=4.11, P=0.003). It was also found that the nutrition knowledge scores of medical staff with less than 5 years of work experience were significantly higher than those with more than 5 years of work experience (F=3.312, P=0.02). However, the scores of nutrition attitude of medical staff with more than 15 years of work experience were significantly higher than those with less than 15 years of work experience (F=6.356, P<0.001) and the scores of nutrition practice of medical staff with 10-15 years of work experience were higher than that of less than 5 years and 5-10 years of work experience(F=2.959, P=0.032). It was also identified that the top three ways to obtain nutrition knowledge were learning at work (68.85%), learning at university (68.69%) and reading books and journals (57.79%). Conclusion The medical staff of nerve-related departments in Hebei province has positive attitudes towards nutrition treatments. However, their mastery of nutritional knowledge and practice could and should be improved further. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the nutrition education for medical staff of the nerve profession. Key words: Nerve; Medical staff; Nutrition; Knowledge; Attitude; Practice

Eating Habits and Knowledge of Nutrition in Older Adults: A Comparison of Gardeners and Nongardeners

A survey was used to investigate gardeners’ and nongardeners’ nutritional attitudes, fruit and vegetable consumption, and nutritional knowledge. The survey was posted for 4 months on one of the largest online resources for Master Gardeners. During the 4 months, 402 responses were gathered. Additionally, identical “paper/pencil” format surveys were distributed to garden, church, and social and community groups with ≈400 responses received. In each group of participants, respondents differentiated themselves as gardeners or nongardeners by responding positively or negatively to the survey question, “do you garden?” No statistically significant relationships were found relating fruit and vegetable consumption to either income level or educational attainment status in the overall sample. Results indicated statistically significant differences in comparisons between gardeners and nongardeners with regards to nutritional attitudes and their consumption of fruit and vegetables where gardeners had more positive nutritional attitude scores and increased consumption of fruit and vegetables. However, no statistically significant differences were found between gardeners’ and nongardeners’ nutritional knowledge.

Association between Nutritional Knowledge and Dietary Behaviors of Middle School Children and Their Mothers

Middle-school students (158 boys and 199 girls) and their mothers were asked about nutritional attitudes, nutritional knowledge, dietary habits, and food intake using a questionnaire to examine whether nutritional knowledge and dietary behaviors of mothers affected their children's dietary habits. Nutritional attitude scores (total, 15 points) and nutritional knowledge scores (total, 20 points) of girls were 11.24 and 16.13 points, respectively, which were significantly higher than 10.47 and 15.43 points for boys. Generally, mothers received higher points than their children for all scores surveyed, but the results were not significantly different between boys' mothers and girls' mothers. The mean nutrient adequacy ratio (MAR) was calculated from dietary nutrient intakes to assess overall quality of meals. The results showed that girls had a higher MAR than that of boys (0.89 vs. 0.86, p < 0.01). Relationships among variables were examined by Pearson's cor- relation coefficient within children and between children and their mothers. Significant positive correlations were ob - served between nutritional attitudes and knowledge in both boys and girls. In girls, positive correlations between nutri- tional attitudes and dietary habits, nutritional knowledge and dietary habits, and dietary habits and MAR were also sig- nificant. In boys, only dietary habits and MAR were correlated with those of their mothers. Nutritional attitudes, dietary habits, and the MAR of girls' mothers were significantly correlated with nutritional attitude, dietary habits and the MAR of girls. The results indicate that the influence of mothers on dietary behaviors of children was greater in girls than that in boys, suggesting that a gender-specific nutrition education program is needed for middle school students. (Korean J Nutr 2011; 44(2): 140 ~ 151)

Dietary Practices and Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Nutrition in Normal Weight and Overweight Women

Relationships among attitudes, knowledge and practices related to nutrition were compared for normal weight (BMI <25) and overweight women (BMI = > 25) in two groups: women employed full time (62 overweight; 71 normal weight) and full time college students (48 overweight; 69 normal weight). A questionnaire assessed knowledge of and attitudes toward nutrition. Dietary intakes were determined using the National Cancer Institute's Health Habits and History Questionnaire (1994) and DIETSYS 3.3 for nutrient analysis. There were no statistically significant differences in nutrition attitude or knowledge scores between overweight women employees or students and their normal weight counterparts. A statistically significant relationship between nutrition knowledge and nutrition attitude scores (p<0.05) was observed in the normal weight working women and there was a similar trend for normal weight college women which approached statistical significance. But, nutrition attitude and knowledge scores were not significantly correlated in either group of overweight women. For normal weight women only, body weight (BMI) and % body fat were related to nutrition attitude scores (p<0.05). In all four groups of women there was a significant inverse relationship between dietary fat intake and nutrition knowledge scores (p<0.001) indicating that those with a more positive attitude toward nutrition had lower fat intakes. The theory of reasoned action is based on cause and effect Knowledge in a given area may cause a more positive attitude in the area and in turn influence behavior. The relationship of body weight and body fat to nutrition attitude provides some support this theory at least for normal weight women.

Nutrition Knowledge and Attitudes of Elementary School Teachers in Washington State

LEARNING OUTCOME: To define two factors influencing inclusion of nutrition in teaching by elementary school teachers in the state of Washington. This study surveyed 203 elementary school teachers in Washington to investigate the relationship between nutrition knowledge and attitudes, as well as to determine the relationship of educational level, years of teaching experience, science and nutrition courses, gender, and age on nutrition knowledge and attitudes. Analysis of variance was used to test for differences in nutrition knowledge scores as well as nutrition attitude scores, and the above variables. Pearson's correlations were also used and indicated that there was a significant correlation between the number of hours of college nutrition and the hours the teachers taught nutrition to their classes. Age was found to be significantly related to knowledge scores in this study. As the age of the teachers increased the nutrition knowledge scores also increased. The number of years of teaching experience was also positively correlated with nutrition knowledge. Teachers who had nutrition included in other college courses had more positive attitudes toward nutrition than those who had no nutrition incorporated in other college courses. A positive relationship was found between college nutrition hours and attitudes concerning nutrition, although the correlation was not significant. There was no correlation between nutrition knowledge scores and nutrition attitude scores. This study indicates that the inclusion of nutrition courses in the preparation of elementary school positively influences the amount of time devoted towards teaching nutrition by elementary school teachers.

Can goal setting as a component of nutrition education effect behavior change among adolescents?

We developed a nutrition education behavior change strategy for high school health classes, and we implemented and evaluated the strategy with 159 adolescents in 12 classes in 6 schools. We used a pre-/postassessment, treatment/ control group experimental design with two treatment groups—one received only the behavior change strategy and one received the strategy plus a traditional knowledge-oriented component. Based on an individualized nutrient intake analysis of a three-day food record, each adolescent in a treatment group selected improvement of one nutrient as a goal. The dependent variable was change in intake of the goal nutrient, analyzed with separate statistical models for each of 6 nutrients. Independent variables in each model were treatment, school, gender, goal, nutrition attitude scores, and nutrition knowledge scores. Although treatment and school were not significant variables, goal was related (p < .01) to behavior change for each of the 6 nutrients. Adolescents who set a goal related to calcium, vitamin A, or vitamin C increased intake and those with a sodium-related goal decreased sodium intake. Gender was related to change for calcium, vitamin A, and folic acid, with males making significant improvements. Nutrition attitudes and knowledge generally were not related to dietary change. Knowledge scores increased significantly in both treatment groups.

Nutritional Knowledge and Attitudes of Dental Students

The nutritional knowledge and attitudes of 230 dental students were studied. The students answered 68.6% of the nutritional knowledge questions currectly, but the test scores were low because they were adversely affected by the degree of certainty. First-year students scored significantly higher than fourth-year students. There was no significant difference between scores of men and women. Knowledge scores were highest for questions on nutrition and oral health and lowest for those on nutritional assessment. Dental students generally expressed favorable attitudes toward nutrition and nutritional care of patients. They agreed that dentists were vital members of the health team and had a responsibility to become involved in health screening and nutrition education of patients. Dietitians were seen as valuable resources to be consulted about nutrition education of the dental patient. More first-year students supported the idea that dentists should prescribe nutritoinal supplements for patients, whereas more fourth-year students were undecided about this matter. There were no differences in nutrition attitude scores attributable to gender of the student or year in dental school. In this study, nutritional knowledge scores did not correlate with nutrition attitude scores.