{"title":"Science electives in high school will improve nutrition knowledge but not enough to make accurate decisions.","authors":"Takahiro Mitsui, Susumu Yamamoto, Morito Endo","doi":"10.4162/nrp.2023.17.4.803","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background/objectives: </strong>Nutrition knowledge has been reported to have a weak positive effect on healthy eating behavior. This study aimed to determine if there was a difference in nutrition knowledge depending on the choice of science subject in high school and whether that affected the actual eating habits of college students in Japan.</p><p><strong>Subjects/methods: </strong>The subjects were 514 college students, the majority first-year students, in 3 cities in Japan. A questionnaire survey was conducted on elective subjects in science in high school, diet (11 items), lifestyle (5 items), and nutrition knowledge (34 questions). The preliminary survey was conducted on 47 students in the fall of 2019, and the full-scale survey was conducted in May-June and October-November 2021 at the end of lectures for the first-year students.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The students in the high-score group (24-31 points, n = 180) had a higher intake of vegetables (odds ratio [OR], 1.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-2.82; <i>P</i> = 0.015) and breakfast (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.03-2.60; <i>P</i> = 0.035), and a reduced intake of fast food (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.14-0.51; <i>P</i> < 0.001) than those in the low-score group (6-19 points, n = 150). Only the biology and chemistry students had significantly higher nutrition scores than the other groups (all: <i>P</i> < 0.001), but no significant difference was found between the other groups. Understanding nutrition learned in elementary and junior high school is appropriate, while molecular structure, recommended amount, and food poisoning were insufficient.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Knowledge of nutrition appears to have a positive effect on the actual eating habits of college students. Although biology and chemistry in high school may help students understand the foundations of good nutrition, specialized food education may be required to make informed dietary choices.</p>","PeriodicalId":19232,"journal":{"name":"Nutrition Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/8c/98/nrp-17-803.PMC10375322.pdf","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nutrition Research and Practice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2023.17.4.803","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NUTRITION & DIETETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Background/objectives: Nutrition knowledge has been reported to have a weak positive effect on healthy eating behavior. This study aimed to determine if there was a difference in nutrition knowledge depending on the choice of science subject in high school and whether that affected the actual eating habits of college students in Japan.
Subjects/methods: The subjects were 514 college students, the majority first-year students, in 3 cities in Japan. A questionnaire survey was conducted on elective subjects in science in high school, diet (11 items), lifestyle (5 items), and nutrition knowledge (34 questions). The preliminary survey was conducted on 47 students in the fall of 2019, and the full-scale survey was conducted in May-June and October-November 2021 at the end of lectures for the first-year students.
Results: The students in the high-score group (24-31 points, n = 180) had a higher intake of vegetables (odds ratio [OR], 1.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-2.82; P = 0.015) and breakfast (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.03-2.60; P = 0.035), and a reduced intake of fast food (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.14-0.51; P < 0.001) than those in the low-score group (6-19 points, n = 150). Only the biology and chemistry students had significantly higher nutrition scores than the other groups (all: P < 0.001), but no significant difference was found between the other groups. Understanding nutrition learned in elementary and junior high school is appropriate, while molecular structure, recommended amount, and food poisoning were insufficient.
Conclusions: Knowledge of nutrition appears to have a positive effect on the actual eating habits of college students. Although biology and chemistry in high school may help students understand the foundations of good nutrition, specialized food education may be required to make informed dietary choices.
期刊介绍:
Nutrition Research and Practice (NRP) is an official journal, jointly published by the Korean Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Community Nutrition since 2007. The journal had been published quarterly at the initial stage and has been published bimonthly since 2010.
NRP aims to stimulate research and practice across diverse areas of human nutrition. The Journal publishes peer-reviewed original manuscripts on nutrition biochemistry and metabolism, community nutrition, nutrition and disease management, nutritional epidemiology, nutrition education, foodservice management in the following categories: Original Research Articles, Notes, Communications, and Reviews. Reviews will be received by the invitation of the editors only. Statements made and opinions expressed in the manuscripts published in this Journal represent the views of authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Societies.