Nutritional Knowledge, Physical Activity, Mood, Body Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction in Vegetarians and Nonvegetarians.

Abstract

Background: Knowledge of nutritional aspects, the practice of physical activity, body satisfaction, and explanation of mood is a topic of great relevance in the field of nutrition, as it allows us to understand in a more exhaustive way the implications of the eating pattern on satisfaction with people's lives. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between nutritional knowledge, dietary pattern, physical activity, mood, body satisfaction, and life satisfaction in vegetarian and nonvegetarian Colombian adults. Materials: Study with a quantitative, observational, multivariate, correlational, and cross-sectional approach. The variables dietary pattern, nutritional knowledge, physical activity, mood, body satisfaction, and life satisfaction were analyzed. The sample (N = 478) included the participation of vegetarians (N = 157) and nonvegetarians (N = 321); the selection of the sample was carried out by nonprobabilistic accidental sampling. The data were collected through an online questionnaire, processed using SPSS version 26 and R version 4.4.2, and analyzed with descriptive statistics. The effect size was calculated based on mean differences, and Spearman's Rho correlation test was applied, considering a significance level of 0.05. Result: In vegetarians, physical activity showed a positive correlation with mood (r = 0.210, p < 0.01). Body dissatisfaction demonstrated a significant negative correlation with life satisfaction (r = -0.26, p < 0.01) and mood (r = -0.28, p < 0.01). Body dissatisfaction showed a significant positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.30, p < 0.01). Life satisfaction was positively correlated with mood (r = 0.54, p < 0.01). Nutritional knowledge exhibited a significant negative correlation with BMI (r = -0.17, p < 0.05). Mood also showed a significant positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.16, p < 0.05). Among nonvegetarians, body dissatisfaction was negatively and significantly correlated with life satisfaction (r = -0.29, p < 0.01) and positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.29, p < 0.01). Life satisfaction was significantly positively correlated with mood (r = 0.42, p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with BMI (r = -0.12, p < 0.05). Nutritional knowledge showed a positive correlation with life satisfaction (r = 0.14, p < 0.05), while mood was negatively correlated with body dissatisfaction (r = -0.36, p < 0.01). Conclusion: These results suggest the importance of nutritional education and its need to adopt a comprehensive approach that includes dietary aspects and considers the relationship between diet, physical activity, and emotional well-being to promote healthy habits and a better quality of life.