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Children's eating habits are influenced by numerous social and individual factors. The present study aimed to evaluate the connection between nutrition knowledge of children and their eating habits as well as their attitudes towards healthy eating habits.

The research study included 630 11-year-old children from 27 randomly selected Slovenian schools. During the research, children attended the sixth grade of the nine-year elementary school and on average were subject to 38.6 h of mandatory nutritional contents, which are planned in the curriculum of home economics. At the end of the school year, nutrition knowledge was checked with a knowledge test consisting of 27 questions. Considering the achieved results, children were classified into three knowledge categories: low, fairly good, and good nutrition knowledge. Children's eating habits were assessed with a food-frequency questionnaire, while the five-degree Likert scale was used to assess their attitudes to healthy eating habits. Differences in children's eating habits and attitudes in reference to the category of knowledge were determined through analysis of variance.

The results demonstrated that children with better nutrition knowledge have healthier eating habits and a more positive attitude towards them than children with poor nutrition knowledge.

The study results demonstrate the link between children's nutrition knowledge and attitudes on the one hand and eating habits on the other which justifies the importance of providing formal and informal nutrition education to children.

The purpose of this study was to examine Finnish seventh‐graders' (13 to 14 years old) nutrition health attitudes, perceptions of skills, reported behaviour and perceptions of families' and friends' nutrition health‐related behaviour.

The research data were collected in a baseline situation through a structured questionnaire presented to seventh‐graders (n=188) in four secondary schools, both rural and urban, in Eastern Finland. Two of the schools were experimental and two were control schools. All schools implemented nutrition health education according to the objectives of the national curriculum for basic education. Additionally, the experimental schools were developing their nutrition health education by using an ICT‐based learning environment.

The results show that seventh‐grade girls had a greater probability to follow healthy eating habits compared to seventh‐grade boys. Parental support had an important role in seventh‐grade adolescents' healthy eating habits and food choices. Additionally, adolescents' own healthy food preparation and choice skills were associated with healthy and versatile eating among seventh‐graders. As expected, no significant differences between the experimental and control schools were found at this baseline situation.

In Finland, strategies and curricula have been developed in schools to encourage children and adolescents to choose a healthy diet and to prepare healthy meals. Having high‐quality school lunches available to all and practical home economics as a school subject are good examples of well‐implemented nutrition health education, which could serve as model for nutrition health promotion worldwide.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the socio‐demographic and health variables of a representative sample of Croatian subjects over 15 years of age associated with reading nutrition labels and, in particular, to examine the association of age characteristics of “label users” with nutrition reading habits.

A total of 1,011 randomly selected subjects over 15 years of age were interviewed by telephone. Moreover, 638 “label users” were recruited for assessing nutrition label habits.

Of the subjects, 36 per cent claimed that they had never, 25 per cent rarely, 19 per cent always and 15 per cent sometimes read nutrition labels. Females, participants with the highest levels of education, still undergoing education, physically active and on special diets claimed that they were more likely to read nutrition labels. Among “label users”, younger participants mentioned “curiosity” as the most important reason for reading nutrition labels, while older participants more often pointed out “wish for healthy eating habits”. “Interpretational aids” were often mentioned among younger participants for easier understanding of nutritional information, while older participants requested “bigger letter size”.

The present study provides a starting point for establishing nutrition education targeted at specific groups of consumers. Research is limited to the subject's self‐reported nutrition label reading. Future research is needed to explore the differences between “label users” and “’non‐users”.

As the study showed, a notable difference exists between younger and older subjects regarding nutrition habits that could help experts toward effective communication. Nevertheless, the study could fill the research gaps in nutrition reading habits of specific groups of consumers in European countries, other than northern Europe.

Randomised controlled trials identify causal links between variables but not why an outcome has occurred. This analysis sought to determine how psychological factors assessed at baseline influenced response to personalised nutrition.

Web-based, randomised, controlled trial (RCT) was conducted across seven European countries. Volunteers, both male and female, aged over 18 years were randomised to either a non-personalised (control) or a personalised (treatment) dietary advice condition. Linear mixed model analysis with fixed effects was used to compare associations between internal and external health locus of control (HLoC), nutrition self-efficacy (NS-E) and self-report habit index (S-RHI) at baseline (N = 1444), with healthy eating index (HEI) and Mediterranean diet index (MDI) scores between conditions post-intervention (N = 763).

An increase in MDI scores was observed between baseline and six months in the treatment group which was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001), S-RHI (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p < 0.001). Increase in HEI between baseline and six months in the treatment group was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p = 0.009). Interaction between time and condition indicated increased HEI scores (p < 0.001), which were associated with higher S-RHI scores in the treatment than control group (p = 0.032). Internal HLoC had no effect on MDI or HEI.

Psychological factors associated with behaviour change need consideration when tailoring dietary advice. Those with weaker habit strength will require communication focussed upon establishing dietary habits and support in integrating advised changes into daily routine. Information on habit strength can also be used to inform how progress towards dietary goals is monitored and fed back to the individual. Those with stronger habit strength are more likely to benefit from personalised nutrition.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between nutrition knowledge and grocery store nutrition label use, with using nutrition information disclosure on menu selection in a group of hospitality management students, who shall be responsible for menu labelling in their future careers.

A between-subject design included 324 students, who were randomly assigned to choose from a menu labelled as follows: unlabelled; kcal label only; graphical label providing information on the per cent of the recommended daily intake of energy and four nutrients. Their nutrition knowledge and habit of reading grocery store nutrition labels were tested using an additional questionnaire.

The results showed that the provision of energy value information resulted in the selection of less energetic, less fat and less salted food, while a graphical label additionally led to the selection of food having a lower saturated fatty acid (SFA) and sugar content. Multiple regression analysis showed that the habit of packaged food nutrition label reading was a significant predictor of choosing food having a lower energy (p<0.001), fat (p<0.001), SFA (p<0.001), sugar (p<0.001) and salt (p=0.003) content, while the influence of nutrition knowledge on food selection was proven insignificant.

Given the established positive impact of menu labelling, these findings support the future European policy mandating energy and nutrient content disclosure on menus, but also point to the need for more-intense consumer education.

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the school-based nutrition programme using the health-promoting school (HPS) framework was effective to improve parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour (KAB) in relation to nutrition in rural Mi Yun County, Beijing.

A cluster-randomised intervention trial design was employed. Two middle schools were randomly selected and assigned to either the intervention school using the HPS framework (HPS School), or to the Control School, in Mi Yun County, Beijing. From each school 65 parents of seventh-grade students were randomly selected to participate in the study. Nutrition-related KAB were measured at pre- and post-intervention surveys with the same instrument. The nutrition intervention last for six months.

The school-based nutrition intervention using the HPS framework was effective in increasing parents’ nutrition knowledge; however, it had no statistical significant impact on improving parents’ attitudes towards nutrition and their eating behaviours.

The intervention appeared to be inadequate from the point of view of its impact on parents in terms of content, form and frequency.

Future school-based nutrition promotion programmes using the HPS framework should focus more on parents, providing them with a more informative, participative and interactive, and frequent intervention.

There is very limited published research focusing on the effect of the school-based nutrition promotion programmes using an HPS framework on parents’ nutrition-related KAB. Although, the improved KAB in relation to nutrition among parents is essential to promote young people’s nutrition and healthy eating behaviours.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the eating habits of students in the field of management and engineering of food products compared to students from faculties not related to food science. Furthermore, another aim is to conduct gender-wise assessment to determine the type of eating habit, i.e., careful or binge eating.

The research involved 400 students from all years of study. The survey was conducted in 2017–2018 and the selection of the sample was intentional. The research used a questionnaire form. Additionally, χ² test was performed to assess the statistical independence of characteristics.

It is found that most students who pledge proper nutrition are women. The majority of respondents ate 3–4 meals in day and regular consumption of breakfast was declared among 42 percent of respondents. The consumption of sweet snacks between meals is reaffirmed by the half of the respondents. Students of the food sciences more often than others believed that they eat healthier and more regularly, although students of non-food directions most often declared intake of five or more meals a day.

An important limitation of the conducted study is a relatively small research sample. It consisted of university students from one of the largest academic centers in Poland. The results cannot be generalized to all students in this country. In the future, a similar survey should be conducted on a larger scale and cover all similar fields of management and engineering of food products in Poland. In addition, it would be worth expanding the research and examine graduates who found employment in the food industry.

The results of the conducted research are a good source of information on the differences in the way of feeding studying women and men. While such studies are not very revealing, the comparison between students in food and non-food fields can be considered a novelty. The described results can be used by the students themselves, but above all, by the authorities of universities conducting food science programs.

The students do not eat properly which can lead to nutritional deficiencies and can deteriorate mental and physical endurance damaging overall health.

The described research is important due to the observed deteriorating eating habits and growing overweight of young adults in developed countries like Poland. They show that education of food technologists, even at the academic level, does not always allow to avoid mistakes in their own nutrition.

Considers the need for school aged children to develop their own health behaviours as often both parents have to work. Outlines the findings of a survey of 14 to 19 year olds in a small rural town in northeastern Missouri. Measures qualities such as self esteem and personal characteristics together with physical activity, health knowledge and diet, enabling the researchers to make observations regarding gender differences and influences on health behaviour. Suggests some implications for educators and parents.

University students are one of the vulnerable groups in terms of having nutritional problems due to their lifestyle and social environment. This study aims to determine the consumption of fast food among university students and evaluate factors that may impact it, such as sociodemographic factors, body mass index (BMI) or nutritional habits.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among a random sample of 184 university students (47.8% men and 52.2% women) with a mean age of 21.1 ± 2.0 years. The survey included students’ sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, nutritional habits and fast-food consumption. Chi-square test, t-test and binary logistic regression analysis were used depending on the characteristics of the data.

Results indicated that 39.7% of the students consumed fast food at least once in 15 days and preferred these foods for taste, workload and social activity. Consumption of fast food occurred at an earlier age in men (%13.6) and the portions were higher than portions of vegetables (p = 0.001). By using regression analysis, a statistically significant relationship was found between the frequency of fast-food consumption and age, gender, economic status, BMI, the amount of vegetables consumed daily and the habit of eating breakfast (p < 0.05).

It is planned to reach more students in the study. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, transportation to students became difficult or could not be reached.

This study is one of the rare studies examining students’ orientation to fast food. The number of studies in this field in Turkey is limited.

Obesity in adolescents has been a severe public health problem in developing countries in recent years. This study aims to assess the differences in socioeconomic, nutrition knowledge, breakfast habits, body image, physical activity, smoking, total sleep quality and nutrient intake between obese and non-obese adolescents.

This cross-sectional study with 2,432 adolescents (16–18 years) was conducted at senior high schools in DKI Jakarta from January to November 2019. Body image, percent body fat, nutrition intake and physical activity variables were collected.

This study found that more than 30% of adolescents in DKI Jakarta were overweight and obese. Overall, adolescents have a 56.3% positive body image, participate in moderate-intensity physical activity (49.02%), and smoke was found at a rate of 6.9%. The average total sleep quality was 71.3% fair and nutrient intakes 1599 ± 413 calories. The findings suggest that monthly income (p = 0.001, p = 0.016), energy intake (p = 0.005, p = 0.019) and total sleep quality (p = 0.008, p = 0.04) variables were consistently associated with nutritional status and percent body fat. Moreover, the body image perception (p = 0.035) variable had a negative correlation with nutritional status, and the smoking habits variable (p = 0.001) had a negative correlation with percent body fat.

This study provides empirical evidence that establishes the association between monthly income, energy intake, total sleep quality with nutritional status and body fat percentage in adolescents.