JOMPAC

Journal of Medicine and Palliative Care (JOMPAC) is an open access scientific journal with independent, unbiased, and double-blind review under international guidelines. The purpose of JOMPAC is to contribute to the literature by publishing articles on health sciences and medicine.

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Original Article
Evaluation of attitudes, behaviors and knowledge levels of students of functional foods
Aims: This study aimed to determine the knowledge level of students studying functional foods at a public university in Malatya and to evaluate the factors affecting their attitudes and behaviors.
Methods: A total of 618 individuals (363 female and 255 male) studying at universities in Malatya were included in this study. Data were collected using a face-to-face survey. The questionnaire consisted of questions about demographic characteristics, eating habits, general health, anthropometric measurements (body weight and height), functional food knowledge level, and food preference scale sections. The data were analyzed using SPSS.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 24.45±2.18 years. It was determined that 65.04% of the individuals had heard of the term functional food. The YETBID-Basic Nutritional Knowledge Scores were higher in females (54.66±8.85) than males (51.14±8.22) (p=0.031). Individuals’ knowledge attitude scale confidence subheading score for functional foods was higher in female (3.95±1.04) than in male (3.15±1.04) (p=0.044). It was observed that as the basic nutrition score increased in both female and male, the score on the attitude scale towards functional foods also increased. In the multiple regression analysis, it was determined that the total score of the attitude scale towards functional foods was significantly affected by the variables of female (sex), duration of education, basic nutrition score, and food preference score (p<0.05).
Conclusion: It was determined that as the education level of the individuals increased, their level of basic nutrition knowledge increased, which affected their attitude towards functional foods. It has been determined that female have higher nutritional knowledge levels than male, find functional foods more reliable, and are more inclined to consume them.


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Volume 4, Issue 5, 2023
Page : 555-560
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