Alshahrani Najim Z, Bafaraj Adeeb Ghazi, Alamri Hisham Mohammed
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Front Nutr. 2024 Aug 7;11:1425650. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1425650. eCollection 2024.
Improving individuals' nutrition literacy can be one way to promote healthy dietary behaviors, which lowers the incidence of non-communicable diseases. In Saudi Arabia, there is a limited information regarding nutrition literacy among students. Therefore, the purposes of this study was to investigate university students' nutrition literacy and identify its predictors in Saudi Arabia. Another objective was to assess how nutrition literacy is associated with eating habits among this sample.
This cross-sectional study was carried out among students attending the University of Jeddah and King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah City) in Saudi Arabia from June 2023 to September 2023. Using a convenience sampling approach, 570 students were enrolled in this study. An online-based structured survey tool including demographic details, a food frequency questionnaire, and a nutrition literacy scale was used to collect the data. Descriptive and multiple binary logistic regression analysis were performed.
Approximately 40.4% of the participants exhibited poor nutrition literacy. Female students were less likely than male students to have poor nutrition literacy (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 0.62; 95% confidence interval, CI = 0.42, 0.92). Underweight (AOR = 1.73; 95%CI = 1.22, 4.56) and overweight participants (AOR = 3.1; 95%CI = 2.77, 7.23) were at higher risk of having poor level of nutrition literacy as compared to those who had normal weight. Students who did not take any nutrition-related courses had a 1.3 times higher probability of having a poor level of nutrition literacy compared to their counterparts (AOR = 1.3; 95%CI = 1.05, 3.74). Moreover, poor nutrition literacy was associated with higher weekly consumption frequencies of red meat, processed foods, funk foods and sugar-sweetened beverages.
A higher percentage of university students had poor nutrition literacy, which was associated with gender, self-reported BMI status, nutrition-related courses and unhealthy eating habits. These findings can assist university administrators and policymakers in implementing effective measures to enhance students' nutrition literacy rates in Saudi Arabia.
提高个人的营养知识水平是促进健康饮食行为的一种方式，这可以降低非传染性疾病的发病率。在沙特阿拉伯，关于学生营养知识水平的信息有限。因此，本研究的目的是调查沙特阿拉伯大学生的营养知识水平，并确定其预测因素。另一个目标是评估该样本中营养知识水平与饮食习惯之间的关联。
本横断面研究于2023年6月至2023年9月在沙特阿拉伯吉达大学和阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王大学（吉达市）的学生中进行。采用便利抽样方法，招募了570名学生参与本研究。使用基于网络的结构化调查工具，包括人口统计学细节、食物频率问卷和营养知识水平量表来收集数据。进行了描述性和多重二元逻辑回归分析。
约40.4%的参与者营养知识水平较差。女学生比男学生营养知识水平差的可能性更小（调整后的优势比，AOR = 0.62；95%置信区间，CI = 0.42，0.92）。与体重正常的参与者相比，体重过轻（AOR = 1.73；95%CI = 1.22，4.56）和超重的参与者营养知识水平差的风险更高。未参加任何营养相关课程的学生营养知识水平差的可能性是参加课程学生的1.3倍（AOR = 1.3；95%CI = 1.05，3.74）。此外，营养知识水平差与红肉、加工食品、垃圾食品和含糖饮料的每周消费频率较高有关。
较高比例的大学生营养知识水平较差，这与性别、自我报告的BMI状况、营养相关课程和不健康的饮食习惯有关。这些发现可以帮助大学管理人员和政策制定者实施有效措施，以提高沙特阿拉伯学生的营养知识水平。
