Yang Shu Ching, Luo Yi Fang, Chiang Chia-Hsun
Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Province of China Taiwan.
J Med Internet Res. 2019 Nov 26;21(11):e13140. doi: 10.2196/13140.
Given the recognized importance of preventing poor dietary behaviors during adolescence, we need a better understanding of college students' dietary behaviors. Studies have found that individual factors and electronic health (eHealth) literacy may affect one's dietary behaviors. However, few studies have fully investigated the effect of the three levels of eHealth literacy (functional, interactive, and critical) and the interactive effect of individual factors (eg, gender, monthly expenses, and frequency of cooking) and the three levels of eHealth literacy on the four aspects of dietary behaviors (consumer health, balanced diet, regular eating habits, and unhealthy food intake).
This study aimed to investigate whether individual differences and higher eHealth literacy are associated with more positive dietary behaviors and less unhealthy dietary intake.
The eHealth Literacy Scale is a 12-item instrument designed to measure college students' functional, interactive, and critical eHealth literacy. The Dietary Behaviors Scale is a 14-item instrument developed to measure four aspects of dietary behaviors of college students. A questionnaire was administered to collect background information about participants' gender, monthly expenses, and frequency of cooking. A national sample of college students was surveyed, and 813 responses were obtained. We conducted a multiple regression analysis to examine the association among individual factors, eHealth literacy, and dietary behaviors.
This study found that functional eHealth literacy was negatively related to unhealthy food intake (beta=-.11; P=.01), and interactive eHealth literacy was positively related to balanced diet (beta=.25; P<.001) and consumer health (beta=.15; P=.02). Moreover, critical eHealth literacy was positively related to consumer health (beta=.30; P<.001) and regular eating habits (beta=.20; P=.002). Finally, the interactive effect between gender and interactive eHealth literacy was negatively related to balanced diet (beta=-.22; P<.001). The interactive effect between monthly expenses and functional eHealth literacy was positively related to balanced diet (beta=.07; P=.03), although the interactive effect between monthly expenses and critical eHealth literacy was negatively related to balanced diet (beta=-.10; P=.047).
This study showed that Taiwanese college students with higher functional eHealth literacy were more likely to engage in fewer unhealthy food consumption practices. Those who had higher interactive and critical eHealth literacy were more likely to engage in positive dietary behaviors than those with functional eHealth literacy. Surprisingly, females with high interactive eHealth literacy were more likely to have a poor balanced diet. In contrast, students with higher monthly expenses and higher functional eHealth literacy were more likely to have a balanced diet. However, students with higher monthly expenses and higher critical eHealth literacy were less likely to maintain a balanced diet.
鉴于预防青少年不良饮食行为的重要性已得到认可，我们需要更好地了解大学生的饮食行为。研究发现，个体因素和电子健康（eHealth）素养可能会影响一个人的饮食行为。然而，很少有研究全面调查电子健康素养的三个水平（功能、交互和批判性）以及个体因素（如性别、月支出和烹饪频率）与电子健康素养三个水平对饮食行为四个方面（消费者健康、均衡饮食、规律饮食习惯和不健康食品摄入）的交互作用。
本研究旨在调查个体差异和较高的电子健康素养是否与更积极的饮食行为和更少的不健康饮食摄入相关。
电子健康素养量表是一个包含12个条目的工具，旨在测量大学生的功能、交互和批判性电子健康素养。饮食行为量表是一个包含14个条目的工具，用于测量大学生饮食行为的四个方面。通过问卷调查收集参与者的性别、月支出和烹饪频率等背景信息。对全国大学生样本进行了调查，共获得813份回复。我们进行了多元回归分析，以检验个体因素、电子健康素养和饮食行为之间的关联。
本研究发现，功能电子健康素养与不健康食品摄入呈负相关（β = -0.11；P = 0.01），交互电子健康素养与均衡饮食（β = 0.25；P < 0.001）和消费者健康（β = 0.15；P = 0.02）呈正相关。此外，批判性电子健康素养与消费者健康（β = 0.30；P < 0.001）和规律饮食习惯（β = 0.20；P = 0.002）呈正相关。最后，性别与交互电子健康素养之间的交互作用与均衡饮食呈负相关（β = -0.22；P < 0.001）。月支出与功能电子健康素养之间的交互作用与均衡饮食呈正相关（β = 0.07；P = 0.03），尽管月支出与批判性电子健康素养之间的交互作用与均衡饮食呈负相关（β = -0.10；P = 0.047）。
本研究表明，功能电子健康素养较高的台湾大学生更有可能减少不健康食品的消费行为。具有较高交互和批判性电子健康素养的人比具有功能电子健康素养的人更有可能养成积极的饮食行为。令人惊讶的是，具有高交互电子健康素养的女性更有可能饮食不均衡。相比之下，月支出较高且功能电子健康素养较高的学生更有可能保持均衡饮食。然而，月支出较高且批判性电子健康素养较高的学生保持均衡饮食的可能性较小。
