Association Between Dietary Knowledge and Food Preferences in Residents Aged 18 and Over in China Based on Latent Class Analysis / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To investigate the food preferences and explore the potential association between dietary knowledge and food preferences in residents aged 18 and over in China,so as to provide a basis for promoting healthy diets.Methods The latent class analysis was carried out with the 2015 cross-sectional data of China health and nutrition survey to categorize the food preferences among 8 783 residents aged 18 and over.Multinomial Logistic regression was adopted to assess the association between and dietary knowledge and food preferences.Results The food preferences of the residents aged 18 and over in China were classified into preference for less vegetable(3.28%),lack of preference(11.20%),diverse preferences(4.19%),and preference for healthy diets(81.33%).The proportion of the adults with dietary knowledge was 36.87%(3 238/8 783).The dietary knowledge varied in the adults with different food preferences(all P<0.001).After adjusting for gender,age,urban and rural distribution,education background,and annual household income,for each point increase in the dietary knowledge score,there was an estimated reduction of 22% in the probability of preferring less vegetables(OR=0.78,95%CI=0.76-0.80, P<0.001),13% in the probability of lacking preference(OR=0.87,95%CI=0.86-0.89, P<0.001),and 3% in the probability of having diverse preferences(OR=0.97,95%CI=0.94-1.00, P=0.030).Compared with those lacking dietary knowledge,the individuals with dietary knowledge had a 77% less probability of preferring less vegetables(OR=0.23,95%CI=0.16-0.32, P<0.001),a 55% less probability of lacking preference(OR=0.45,95%CI=0.39-0.53, P<0.001),and a 23% less probability of having diverse preferences(OR=0.77,95%CI=0.61-0.96, P=0.023).Conclusions The residents aged 18 and over in China presented four food preferences,including preference for less vegetables,lack of preference,diverse preferences,and preference for healthy diets,the last of which had the highest proportion.The individuals with lower levels of dietary knowledge have higher probability of preferring unhealthy food.

Cambios de conocimientos sobre alimentación y anemia en el personal de salud en Cuba / Changes in knowledge about diet and anemia among cuban health professionals

Introducción: Las guías alimentarias constituyen un instrumento educativo que transmiten conocimientos científicos sobre alimentación y nutrición en forma de mensajes prácticos que facilitan la selección y consumo de los mismos. En el menor de 2 años cobran particular importancia debido a la necesidad de formar hábitos alimentarios desde la temprana edad. Objetivos: Evaluar los cambios de conocimientos sobre alimentación del niño menor de un año y anemia en los profesionales de la salud encargados de llevar a cabo la implementación de las guías alimentarias. Métodos: Se aplicó una encuesta para medir conocimientos en profesionales de la salud en dos momentos en el tiempo. El cuestionario contaba de dos bloques de preguntas, uno relacionado con la alimentación del menor de 1 año y otro sobre anemia en los menores de 5 años y sus repercusiones en la salud del niño. Para la calificación de cada bloque de preguntas se realizó una puntuación sobre la base del número de respuestas correctas. Se realizaron comparaciones estadísticas para valorar los cambios. Resultados: Se obtuvo una mejoría estadísticamente significativa en los conocimientos de los profesionales de la salud relacionados con los beneficios de la lactancia materna, la alimentación complementaria y los efectos de la anemia en la salud del niño. Conclusiones: Los resultados obtenidos demuestran en un breve período de tiempo cambios favorables en los conocimientos de los profesionales de la salud sobre alimentación y nutrición lo que posibilita obtener resultados positivos en la labor educativa sobre alimentación saludable(AU)

A comparison of two differential methods for nutrition education in elementary school: lecture-and experience-based learning program

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This research was conducted to compare lecture-and experience-based methods of nutritional education as well as provide fundamental data for developing an effective nutritional education program in elementary schools. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 110 students in three elementary schools in Jeollanam-do were recruited and randomly distributed in lecture-and experience-based groups. The effects of education on students' dietary knowledge, dietary behaviors, and dietary habits were analyzed using a pre/post-test. RESULTS: Lecture-and experience-based methods did not significantly alter total scores for dietary knowledge in any group, although lecture-based method led to improvement for some detailed questions. In the experience-based group, subjects showed significant alteration of dietary behaviors, whereas lecture-based method showed alteration of dietary habits. CONCLUSIONS: These outcomes suggest that lecture-and experience-based methods led to differential improvement of students' dietary habits, behaviors, and knowledge. To obtain better nutritional education results, both lectures and experiential activities need to be considered.

Nutritional Status, Dietary Intake, and Relevant Knowledge of Adolescent Girls in Rural Bangladesh.

This study estimated the levels and differentials in nutritional status and dietary intake and relevant knowledge of adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh using data from the Baseline Survey 2004 of the National Nutrition Programme. A stratified two-stage random cluster-sampling was used for selecting 4,993 unmarried adolescent girls aged 13-18 years in 708 rural clusters. Female interviewers visited girls at home to record their education, occupation, dietary knowledge, seven-day food-frequency, intake of iron and folic acid, morbidity, weight, and height. They inquired mothers about age of their daughters and possessions of durable assets to divide households into asset quintiles. Results revealed that 26% of the girls were thin, with body mass index (BMI)-for-age <15th percentile), 0.3% obese (BMI-for-age >95th percentile), and 32% stunted (height-for-age ≤2SD). Risks of being thin and stunted were higher if girls had general morbidity in the last fortnight and foul-smelling vaginal discharge than their peers. Consumptions of non-staple good-quality food items in the last week were less frequent and correlated well positively with the household asset quintile. Girls of the highest asset quintile ate fish/meat 2.1 (55%) days more and egg/milk two (91%) days more than the girls in the lowest asset quintile. The overall dietary knowledge was low. More than half could not name the main food sources of energy and protein, and 36% were not aware of the importance of taking extra nutrients during adolescence for growth spurt. The use of iron supplement was 21% in nutrition-intervention areas compared to 8% in non-intervention areas. Factors associated with the increased use of iron supplements were related to awareness of the girls about extra nutrients and their access to mass media and education. Community-based adolescent-friendly health and nutrition education and services and economic development may improve the overall health and nutritional knowledge and status of adolescents.

The Effect of Individualized Nutritional Education on Adults having two or more Symptoms of Chronic Degenerative Disease / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was intended to evaluate the overall effects of nutritional education on adults having two or more symptoms of chronic degenerative disease. A nine week nutritional education program was provided for 65 adults with chronic diseases. We assessed the changes in dietary knowledge, eating behavior and socio-psychological factors. When we evaluated the nutrient intakes of the subjects, their energy intake was 79.4% of the Korean Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). Their dietary intake of other nutrients was also below the RDA level except for Vitamin C. Their knowledge of dietary therapy was slightly improved after the implementing of nutritional education. The dietary behavior of 'night snacks before sleep' was significantly improved. While the overall fear due to disease was significantly increased, self-efficacy was not improved. Self-efficacy for eating "three regular meals" and "choosing fruit, vegetable and grain" were significantly decreased. Family support for "buying food which is good for my health" was also significantly increased, whereas "advises me to eat appropriate foods for health" was decreased. Biochemical analysis indicated that blood levels of triglyceride, cholesterol and blood pressure improved after nutrition education. Therefore, we concluded that nutritional education program for people with chronic degenerative diseases could change the diet therapy knowledge, dietary behavior, and the fear due to disease, support from family and behavior intention toward the direction to improve the chronic disease condition. However, it did not improve self-efficacy. Our study also indicated that nutritional education strategies to improve self-efficacy should be an important aspect in a long term education plan for patients to establish desirable eating habits.