EVALUATION OF FOOD LITERACY LEVELS IN DENTISTRY STUDENTS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Year 2024, Volume: 48 Issue: 1 , 13 - 20 , 30.04.2024

Şeyma Mustuloğlu , Pınar Serdar Eymirli , Eda Köksal , Melek Dilek Turgut Meryem Uzamış Tekçiçek

https://izlik.org/JA28WA64ZK

Abstract

Background and Aim: This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the food literacy status of dental students.
Materials and Methods: An online questionnaire including demographic characteristics and a short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ) was filed by 420 dental students. The data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS statistical software.
Results: The mean age of the students was 21.6±1.96 years and the majority of them (n=306, 72.9%) had good health based on their statements. Having lunch (57.4%) was lower than breakfast and dinner. Most of the students (93.8%) were shopping by themselves. Only ten students (2.4%) considered the level of their nutritional knowledge as very good. A significant relationship was found concerning the consumed snacks between genders (p<0.05). The mean total SFLQ score was 37.6±5.73. The SFLQ scores of the students who stated their current health status as “good” were found to be significantly lower (p<0.05).
Conclusion: It has been concluded that increasing the food literacy level of dental students is important in terms of their health and nutrition concerns, as well as contributing to the primary protection of society and enlightening their patients in this context.

Keywords

Food Literacy , Questionnaire , Nutrition , Dental Education

References

• 1. Mengi Çelik Ö, Semerci R. Evaluation of nutrition literacy and nutrition knowledge level in nursing students: a study from Turkey. BMC nursing 2022; 21: 359.
• 2. GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2019; 393: 1958–1972.
• 3. Cammock R, Tonumaipe’a D, Conn C, Sa’uLilo L, Tautolo ES, Nayar S. From individual behaviour strategies to sustainable food systems: Countering the obesity and non communicable diseases epidemic in New Zealand. Health Policy 2021; 125: 229-238.
• 4. Vidgen HA, Gallegos D. Defining food literacy and its components. Appetite. 2014; 76: 50–59.
• 5. Begley A, Butcher LM, Bobongie V, Dhaliwal SS. Identifying Participants Who Would Benefit the Most from an Adult Foodliteracy Program. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019; 16: 1272.
• 6. Popkin BM, Adair LS, Ng SW. Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutr Rev 2012; 70: 3–21.
• 7. Monteiro CA, Moubarac JC, Cannon G, Ng SW, Popkin B. Ultraprocessed products are becoming dominant in the global food system. Obesity reviews: an official. Obes Rev 2013; 14 Suppl 2: 21–28.
• 8. Brooks N, Begley A. Adolescent food literacy programmes: A review of the literature. Nutrition & Dietetics 2014; 71: 158-171.
• 9. Bereznay M, Kopp C, Nyakwol A, Howe C. J. Promoting Food Literacy in Teens. J Pediatr Nurs 2019; 47: 171–172.
• 10. Vaitkeviciute R, Ball LE, Harris N. The relationship between food literacy and dietary intake in adolescents: a systematic review. Public Health Nutr 2015; 18 :649–658.
• 11. Glik D, Martinez S. College students identify university support for basic needs and life skills as key ingredient in addressing food insecurity on campus. California Agriculture 2017; 71: 130-138.
• 12. Liao, Li-Ling, I-Ju Lai, and Li-Chun Chang. Nutrition literacy is associated with healthy-eating behaviour among college students in Taiwan. Health Education Journal 2019; 78: 756-769.
• 13. Gréa Krause C, Beer-Borst S, Sommerhalder K, Hayoz, S, Abel T. A short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ) for adults: Findings from a Swiss validation study. Appetite 2018; 120: 275–280.
• 14. Durmus H, Gökler ME, Havlioğlu S. Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the short food literacy questionnaire among university students. Prog Nutr 2019; 21: 333-338.
• 15. Colatruglio S, Slater J. Food literacy: bridging the gap between food, nutrition and well-being. Sustainable well-being: Concepts, issues, and educational practices 2014; 37-55.
• 16. Slater J. Is cooking dead? The state of Home Economics Food and Nutrition education in a Canadian province. Int J Consum Stud 2013; 37: 617-624.
• 17. Truman E, Lane D, Elliott C. Defining food literacy: A scoping review. Appetite 2017; 116: 365–371.
• 18. Gökler ME, Durmuş H, Havlioğlu S. Food literacy can described adequate? Optimizing cut-off scores for the short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ). Med J Nutrition Metab 2020; 13: 119-126.
• 19. Cullen T, Hatch J, Martin W, Higgins JW, Sheppard R. Food Literacy: Definition and Framework for Action. Can J Diet Pract Res 2015; 76: 140–145.
• 20. Kimura AH. Food education as food literacy: privatized and gendered food knowledge in contemporary Japan. Agric Human Values 2011; 28: 465-482.
• 21. Nettle D. Why are there social gradients in preventative health behavior? A perspective from behavioral ecology. PloS one 2010; 5: 13371.
• 22. Kremmyda LS, Papadaki A, Hondros G, Kapsokefalou M, Scott JA. Differentiating between the effect of rapid dietary acculturation and the effect of living away from home for the first time, on the diets of Greek students studying in Glasgow. Appetite 2008; 50: 455–463.
• 23. Nola IA, Jelinić JD, Matanić D, Pucarin-Cvetković J, Bergman Marković B, Senta A. Differences in eating and lifestyle habits between first- and sixth-year medical students from Zagreb. Coll Antropol 2010; 34: 1289–1294.
• 24. Bagordo F, Grassi T, Serio F, Idolo A, De Donno A. Dietary habits and health among university students living at or away from home in southern Italy. Journal of Food & Nutrition Research 2013; 52(3).
• 25. Majeed F. Association of BMI with diet and physical activity of female medical students at the University of Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. J Taibah Univ Med Sci 2015; 10: 188-196.
• 26. García-Meseguer MJ, Burriel FC, García CV, Serrano-Urrea R. Adherence to Mediterranean diet in a Spanish university population. Appetite 2014; 78: 156–164.
• 27. Likus W, Milka D, Bajor G, Jachacz-Łopata M, Dorzak B. Dietary habits and physical activity in students from the Medical University of Silesia in Poland. Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig 2013; 64: 317–324.
• 28. Teleman AA, de Waure C, Soffiani V, Poscia A, & Di Pietro ML. Nutritional habits in Italian university students. Ann Ist Super Sanita 2015; 51: 99–105.
• 29. Bakanlığı, T. S., Üniversitesi H. Türkiye beslenme ve sağlık araştırması (TBSA). Beslenme Durumu ve Alışkanlıklarının Değerlendirilmesi Sonuç Raporu. Sağlık Bakanlığı Yayın 2019: (931).
• 30. (WHO), W.H.O. Health topics - Obesity. 2019 22.07.2022]; Available from: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/health-topics/ obesity.
• 31. Bernardo GL, Jomori MM, Fernandes AC, Proença RPDC. Food intake of university students. Revista de Nutrição 2017; 30: 847- 865.
• 32. Scardina GA, Messina P. Good oral health and diet. J Biomed Biotechnol 2012; 720692.
• 33. Touger-Decker R, Mobley C. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: oral health and nutrition. J Acad Nutr Diet 2013; 113: 693–701.
• 34. Yeung AWK, Tosevska A, Klager E, Eibensteiner F, Tsagkaris C, Parvanov ED et al. Medical and Health-Related Misinformation on Social Media: Bibliometric Study of the Scientific Literature. J Med Internet Res 2022; 24: 28152.
• 35. Liobikienė G, Bernatonienė J. The determinants of access to information on the Internet and knowledge of health related topics in European countries. Health Policy 2018; 122: 1348-1355.