Nutrition knowledge attitude and practices among students of Ahfad University for women

A desire to eat a healthy diet may exist, but it does not translate fully to behavior modification. People are not willing to trade convenience for health or other benefits. Continuation of eating an unhealthy diet can lead to many health problems including obesity, malnutrition, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes etc.The study will help to identify areas of weakness in students’ understanding of healthy eating and will also provide useful data for examining the relationship between nutrition knowledge and dietary behavior which, up until now, has been far from clear.The present study was Cross-sectional population study using a dietary questionnaire previously constructed and tested was administered during university hours. Each section was evaluated separately. The study is to asses nutrition knowledge, eating attitudes and practices among university students. Regarding research methods, Nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices, socio-demographic factors, food frequency, weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BM) were evaluated. The results revealed that 42% of the students get their nutritional knowledge from the media. (73.4%) didn't know the source of vitamin B12 and iron 55.1% of the students didn't know the food group that should be eaten the least. 52.6% didn't know which foods contain more fibers. 66.6%of students didn't know which foods contain the most calcium.The student field was significantly associated with several of these questions like food group that should be eaten the least (p-value =0.030) and knowledge of foods containing calcium (p-value =0.000). Knowledge about carbohydrates (p-value =0.001), fat (p-value 0.001), and hazards of low intake of fruits and vegetables (p-value 0.000).Results from nutritional attitude reveals that only 46.3% of students attempt to eat healthy. 65.1% find it difficult to eat healthy in university cafeterias, 50.6% find it hard to have time to plan healthy diet, while 50.6% enjoy eating unhealthy food. 30.9% of students never consume lentil, 28% never consume fish, 25.4% never consume lamp and 25.4% never consume beef. BMI results showed that only 46.6% of students are of a normal weight while 61% of students have an ideal WC. The study suggests lack of adequate nutritional knowledge among students. With respect to specific responses on nutritional knowledge, more than half the students did not know the correct answers to questions concerning fibers, calcium, vitamin B12 and fat. Media was the major source of information and not all students were aware of the health hazards of soft drinks and low intake of fruits and vegetables. The significant association between the students’ study field and their nutritional knowledge magnifies the role of education. The students’ attitude and practices needed improvement, emphasizing the need for further studies and a practical nutrition education programmes.