Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
+32 25889658
ISSN: 2155-9600
+32 25889658
Fawaz Almansour
Kuwait University, Kuwait
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
Increasing nutritional knowledge is an important component of broader societal efforts to address the high prevalence of nutrition-related diseases. In Kuwait University students are a critical target group since many of their lifestyle behaviors are shaped during college and may continue throughout their life. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of nutritional knowledge on the dietary behavior of 700 undergraduate students of Kuwait University. Nutritional knowledge and dietary behavior of Kuwait University undergraduate students were evaluated using paper-based questionnaires to assess lifestyle and nutrition behavioral changes. Moreover, students who have children have been evaluated to determine whether they tend to affect their kids eating habits positively. A total sample of 700 female and male students was recruited for the study. Students who practiced better dietary habits had better nutritional knowledge. However, the strength of the association was considered weak (r=0.229). Similarly, a very week positive relationship was investigated between parents’ nutritional knowledge and children’s eating habits (r=0.070). The findings suggest that nutritional knowledge can slightly assist in adopting healthier eating habits, which may reduce nutrition-related diseases. However, future studies should emphasize on exploring other factors affecting dietary behavior such as taste, availability, food cost or security, cultural or religious beliefs and perceptions about food and health.
Fawaz Almansnour has been a Faculty Member at Kuwait University for 7 years and is a part of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition. His topics of research are obesity in children and sports nutrition.
E-mail: f.almansour@gmail.com