An investigation of the relationship between nutritional behaviours and nutritional self‐efficacy in children

Abstract

Background: In this study, we examined the nutritional behaviours of secondary school children and the factors affecting their nutritional self-efficacy as well as the relationship between nutritional behaviours and nutritional self-efficacy.Methods: We determined from the BMIs of the 462 students participating in the study in the Fethiye district of Mu gla province that 48.5% were underweight, 46.5% were normal and 5% were overweight. Results:The participating children's grade in school and their father's education affected their nutritional behaviours. We observed at the same time that the 'child's grade in school', 'father's education' and 'income level' affected the 'Nutritional Self-Efficacy Scale' mean score. A positive and significant relationship was found between the Nutritional Self-Efficacy Scale and Nutritional Behaviour Scale mean scores of the children participating in the study. Conclusions:We concluded that a useful recommendation for health professionals working in programmes aiming to improve children's eating habits would be to focus on initiatives that improve nutritional self-efficacy and nutritional behaviours.

The effect of sustainable food literacy education on primary school nutrition attitudes and behaviours

“…Intergroup comparisons were achieved using the Mann Whitney U test and Wilcoxon Singed Rank test for continuous variables. The Chi square test was used to compare categorical var-iables; p<0.05 was considered statistically significant (8).…”

“…A study examining the relationship between nutrition behaviors and nutrition self-efficacy of secondary school students, found a positive and significant relationship between the mean scores of the Nutrition Self-Efficacy Scale and Nutrition Behavior Scale of the students (8). Japan encourages healthy eating habits in children through its 2005 law on nutrition educa-tion.…”

“…Research shows a strong relationship between the nutri-tional self-efficacy of schoolchildren and their eating habits (7). Additionally, children's school grades and income levels have a reported positive and significant relationship with their nutritional behaviors and self-efficacy (8).…”