“It’s Important but, on What Level?”: Healthy Cooking Meanings and Barriers to Healthy Eating among University Students

Vélez-Toral, Mercedes; Reinado, Carmen Rodríguez; Ramallo-Espinosa, Ana; Andrés-Villas, Montserrat

doi:10.3390/nu12082309

Cited by 21 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The possible barriers that were stated in other studies, such as inconvenience, lack of time, and financial reasons [ 4 , 8 , 9 , 11 ], did not have a significant relationship with decreased healthy habits, although not knowing how to plan a diet did (β = −0.180, p = 0.025). This was against expectations, as studies have found that the UAE population chooses unhealthy options because they are more convenient, cheaper, and more accessible [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

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The Barriers to Sustainable Nutrition for Sustainable Health among Zayed University Students in the UAE

2022

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Unhealthy and unsustainable nutrition is a major concern globally, including in the United Arab Emirates. Although many education programs have been conducted, diet-related illnesses remain prevalent. This study aims to identify the barriers between knowledge and practice of sustainable healthy diets to achieve long-term health, among students of Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. An online questionnaire was sent to Zayed University (ZU) students over 18 years of age, using snowball sampling. The participants achieved a mean score of 5.6 out of 11 in nutritional knowledge, and a mean score of 3.4 out of 6 in healthy habits. The only barrier that significantly affected dietary habits was not knowing how to plan a diet (p = 0.025). Accordingly, having good nutritional knowledge was significantly related to improved dietary habits (p < 0.001). In addition, school curriculums (p = 0.004), doing one’s own research (p < 0.001), and social media (p < 0.001) were significantly related to improved nutritional knowledge. The most commonly reported motivators for a healthier diet were “to keep their body healthy for a long time” and “to maintain a healthy weight” (72.6% and 70.1%, respectively). Overall, among ZU students the most significant barrier to achieving sustainable healthy nutrition was lack of knowledge. Education methods such as school curriculums, individual research, and social media were effective. Topics such as how to plan a diet, how to keep the body healthy, and how to maintain a healthy weight are of general interest.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…They indicated their belief that cooking a healthy meal is time-consuming, requires more effort, and costs more than buying fast food or ready-to-eat food. Students also commented that unhealthy and processed food was easily accessible on their university campus, through vending machines or stores [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Barriers to Sustainable Nutrition for Sustainable Health among Zayed University Students in the UAE

2022

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“…When it comes to dietary habits, university is the time when previously learned patterns can be cemented, or new patterns can be learned and replace old ones [ 17 , 18 ]. Many variables can exert influence on the ways that university students nourish themselves, including individual factors (e.g., the lack of self-discipline or time constraints), support networks (e.g., the influence of peers or the lack of parental monitoring), the local environment (e.g., accessibility or the appeal and price of certain food products) as well as the macro environment (e.g., advertising) [ 19 , 20 ]. Other sociodemographic variables have also been connected to the DQ of university students, including the following: living alone [ 21 ], gender [ 22 ], satisfaction with one’s studies and academic performance [ 23 ], lack of information [ 24 ] as well as anxiety and depression [ 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Related to Diet Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study of 1055 University Students

et al. 2021

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Given that there is only a limited body of evidence available concerning the dietary habits of Spanish university students, the present study assesses the quality of this group’s diet, their adherence to the National Food-Based Dietary Guidelines, and the predictive factors of their diet quality. To do so, a cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 1055 students. The quality of the participants’ diets was then analysed by using the Spanish Healthy Eating Index, and then their level of compliance was assessed in light of the dietary recommendations put forth by the Spanish Society for Community Nutrition. According to these standards, only 17.4% of the participants had a healthy diet. The level of compliance with the recommendations was poor, highlighting especially the low levels of “fruit” and “vegetables” that they consumed as well as high levels of “cold meats and cuts” and “sweets.” The factors that predicted a worse diet are being male, living alone, low levels of physical activity, smoking, high alcohol intake, leading a sedentary lifestyle, psychological distress, and insomnia (p < 0.005). Furthermore, participants with low or high body weights showed signs of a higher quality diet (p < 0.001). The present findings suggest that a significant proportion of university students ought to change their dietary habits; these also attest to the importance of developing strategies that are directly targeted at university students in order to promote a healthy diet.

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“…University students perceive time constraints as a barrier to implementing healthy eating behaviors [ 22 ]. If they perceive it as being difficult to dedicate time to healthy eating at the same time as, for example, attending classes [ 47 ], it is understandable that they also do not attach much importance to the social gathering around food in their daily lives. in any case, none of these studies have made an empirical observation based on the life experience of the target population [ 46 ] but have rather relied on experts for the development of the scale or followed nutritional recommendations from the country, or based on previous research [ 44 , 48 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spanish Validation of the Self-Perceived Food Literacy Scale: A Five-Factor Model Proposition

et al. 2022

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Food literacy is a combination of functional, critical, and relational skills that pave the way for navigating the food system properly, taking personally and contextually available resources into account. The aim was to validate the Spanish version of the self-perceived food literacy scale in university students to explore the factorial structure of it and to correlate food literacy with other variables. The sample was composed of 362 Spanish university students (314 women). The full questionnaire was administered online and also assessed adherence to a Mediterranean diet, impulsivity, and health-related quality of life for convergent validity testing purposes. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to determine the factor structure of the food literacy scale. The Spanish version of the scale showed good indices of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.894). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a five-factor model that had a better fit index than the seven-factor model of the original scale. External validity was assessed by showing significant correlations with the rest of the variables. Therefore, the Spanish version of the scale is a reliable and valid measure of food literacy. It could be used to promote policies at Spanish universities to improve the food-related behaviors of students.

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“It’s Important but, on What Level?”: Healthy Cooking Meanings and Barriers to Healthy Eating among University Students

Cited by 21 publications

References 40 publications

The Barriers to Sustainable Nutrition for Sustainable Health among Zayed University Students in the UAE

The Barriers to Sustainable Nutrition for Sustainable Health among Zayed University Students in the UAE

Factors Related to Diet Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study of 1055 University Students

Spanish Validation of the Self-Perceived Food Literacy Scale: A Five-Factor Model Proposition

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