Evaluation of University Students’ Knowledge of and Practices for Sustainable Nutrition

Year 2021, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 146 - 156, 28.06.2021

Aysun Yüksel , Hülya Yılmaz Önal

https://doi.org/10.31015/jaefs.2021.2.3

Cited By: 3

Abstract

The world is faced with many significant environmental challenges, such as climate change, on a global scale. Sustainable nutrition has an important role in solving these problems. In this study, we aimed to determine the sustainable nutrition knowledge and attitudes of university students. The study was completed with 889 students. It was found that 71.2% of male students think that foods have no effect on the environment. All students had a mean sustainable nutrition knowledge score of 16.0 ± 5.3. As income increased, sustainable nutrition practices scores decreased (p<0.05). Sustainable nutrition knowledge scores of overweight and obese individuals were found to be lower than those of participants with normal BMIs (p<0.05). Red meat is eaten 1-2 days a week by 73.7% of the students. Also, 85.7% of students do not separate their wastes. This study is the first to provide data on the knowledge and attitudes of Turkish university students on food sustainability from a national and holistic perspective. The results show that there is a significant lack of knowledge regarding the characteristics of sustainable nutrition. It is extremely important to help people understand how food affects the environment. In this context, various research and training approaches are needed.

Keywords

Sustainable nutrition, Environmental issues, Climate change, University student

Thanks

We would like to thank the schools for their cooperation, and the interviewed students who made this research possible.

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