Knowledge, Awareness, and Attitudes Toward Functional Foods During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study
Öz
This study aimed to evaluate university students’ lev-els of knowledge, attitudes, and awareness regarding functional foods during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the relationships among these variables (direct, indirect, and conditional). This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 334 students enrolled in the Faculties of Health Sciences, Medicine, and Dentistry at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. The online questionnaire included sections on demographic characteristics and COVID-19–related questions, as well as scales assessing knowledge and attitudes toward func-tional foods and the frequency of their consumption. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 30.0 and Hayes’ PROCESS macro. The food most fre-quently identified as functional by participants was kefir and probiotic yogurt (73.7%), followed by other probiotic–prebiotic products and fortified foods. The functional food group with the greatest increase in consumption during the pandemic was vitamin- and mineral-fortified products (53%). Students who believed that functional foods have protective effects against COVID-19 or who conducted research on nutrition during the pandemic had significant-ly higher knowledge, awareness, and attitude scores (p < 0.05) (OR = 0.859–0.956). In addition, significant positive correlations were found among these three variables (r = 0.134–0.421). The indirect effect of knowledge on atti-tudes through awareness was not statistically significant. However, knowledge positively predicted both awareness (B = 0.172) and attitudes (B = 0.121) (p < 0.001). The predictive effect of knowledge on awareness was signifi-cant only among students who themselves or whose rela-tives had experienced COVID-19 infection (B = 0.270; p < 0.001). In conclusion, knowledge, awareness, and atti-tudes toward functional foods are positively related, and this relationship is influenced by gender, source of infor-mation, beliefs regarding functional foods, nutrition edu-cation, and COVID-19 experience.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Attitude, Awareness, COVID-19 Pandemic, Functional foods, Knowledge
Destekleyen Kurum
TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye)
Proje Numarası
TÜBİTAK 2209-A University Students Research Projects Support Program (Application ID: 1919B012101684)
Etik Beyan
Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Medicine and Health Sciences at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University (Decision Date: November 29, 2021; Protocol and Decision No: 210058-32).
Kaynakça
- Aimrane A, Laaradia MA, Sereno D, Perrin P, Draoui A, Bou-gadir B, et al. Insight into COVID-19's epidemiology, patholo-gy, and treatment. Heliyon. 2022;8(1):e08799. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon. 2022.e08799.
- Hu B, Guo H, Zhou P, Shi ZL. Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2021;19(3):141-54. doi: 10.1038/s41579-020-00459-7.
- Liu J, Kamarudin KM, Liu Y, Zou J, Zhang J. Developing a behavior change framework for pandemic prevention and con-trol in public spaces in China. Sustainability. 2022;14(4):2452. doi: 10.3390/su14042452.
- Sachs JD, Karim SSA, Aknin L, Allen J, Brosbøl K, Colombo F, et al. The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet. 2022;400(10359):1224-80. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01585-9.
- Van der Werf ET, Busch M, Jong MC, Hoenders HR. Lifestyle changes during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey in the Netherlands. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1226. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11264-z.
- Maqbool ME, Farhan A, Qamar MA. Global impact of COVID-19 on food safety and environmental sustainability: Pathways to face the pandemic crisis. Heliyon. 2024;10(15):e35154. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35154.
- Filip R, Anchidin-Norocel L, Gheorghita R, Savage WK, Dimian M. Changes in dietary patterns and clinical health out-comes in different countries during the SARS-CoV-2 pandem-ic. Nutrients. 2021;13(10):3612. doi: 10.3390/nu13103612.
- Gong Y, Said F, Haq W, Gong J, Aksar I. The impact of health information seeking and social influence on functional food purchase intention. Scientific Reports. 2025;15(1):4212. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-87343-7.
- Konstantinidi M, Koutelidakis AE. Functional foods and bioactive compounds: A review of its possible role on weight management and obesity’s metabolic consequences. Medicines. 2019;6(3):94. doi: 10.3390/medicines6030094.
- Vignesh A, Amal TC, Sarvalingam A, Vasanth K. A review on the influence of nutraceuticals and functional foods on health. Food Chemistry Advances. 2024:100749. doi: 10.1016/j.focha.2024.100749.