Self‐Reporting a Healthy Diet and Dietary Practices among Undergraduate Nutrition and Non‐Nutrition Majors
Authors: Lewis Gillian R. , Moya Sheila Cortazar , Pope Benjamin T. , Ricketts Jennifer R. , Alcance Klaire Angela Abalos , McDaniels Amanda , Hongu Nobuko 
Published: November 2023

Background

Expanding upon our previous study, which demonstrated a positive correlation between number of years of nutrition classes and healthy dietary habits, this study examined self‐reported healthy diet among undergraduate students with minimal or no previous nutrition education. Since an introductory nutrition class (NSC170) qualifies as a general education course, this class includes students with varied majors. Additionally, this class must be completed before taking any other nutrition classes, thus these students have not completed a college level nutrition class. It was hypothesized that there is a significant increase in fruit/vegetable intake and a decrease in fast food consumption with those who answered that their diet is healthy.

Methods

A total of 364 students, mean age 18.56 ± 1.3 year, 74.2% female (n=270), 25.8 % male (n=94), 60.4% white, 18.7% black, 13.8% Hispanic/other, and 7.1% Asian were surveyed one week after classes began. The survey contained 18 questions about demographic information, average fruit/vegetable consumption, fast food consumption, and personal dietary health awareness. The data was analyzed using simple and multiple linear regression models.

Results

The respondents were divided into four groups: 1) non‐nutrition, health majors (n=177, 48.6%); 2) non–health majors (n=121, 33.2%); 3) nutrition majors (n=36, 9.9%); and 4) undeclared majors (n=29, 8.0%). The two majors with the highest number of students were pre‐nursing/nursing (n=128, 35.2%) and business (n=32, 8.8%). 55.5 % of students (n=202) responded “yes and no” when they were asked about their diet is healthy, followed by “yes” (n=106, 29.1%) and “no” (n=46, 12.6%). There was a marginally significant relationship between increased age and the perception that their diet is unhealthy (p<0.1). However, the amount of fast foods consumed per week significantly decreased with age (p<0.05). Additionally, there was a non‐significant positive correlation between vegetable consumption and age. In regard to gender, the data revealed that males consumed more fast foods than females. However, more males reported that their diet is healthy than females. In regard to major type, there was a significant correlation with self‐reporting a healthy diet; nutrition majors believed their diets are the healthiest, followed by non‐nutrition health majors, non‐health majors, and then undeclared majors. It was also found that nutrition majors reported higher consumption of fruits and vegetables than other majors. Nutrition and non‐nutrition health majors consumed less fast foods than the other major types.

Conclusions

The survey responses on their “diet is healthy” among young, college students with non‐nutrition majors showed mixed results in age and gender. Nutrition majors eat more fruits and vegetables, less fast foods, and reported more their diet is healthy than non‐nutrition majors in the same age group. In the future study, we will distribute the same survey at the end of the semester to examine if there perception of healthy diet changes due to the nutrition classes.

Support or Funding Information

University of Arizona Honors College