The association between nutrition knowledge and eating behavior in male and female adolescents in the US

Abstract

Some factors that could influence adolescent eating behavior include: peer influences, nutrition knowledge and beliefs, mass media, and parental dietary habits. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation of nutrition knowledge and eating behavior of a sample of middle school children. The participants were 532 students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades between the ages of 11 and 13 from Shawnee Middle School in Lima, Ohio. The students were asked to answer a questionnaire, CANKAP (Comprehensive Assessment of Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices), which measured their nutrition knowledge and eating behavior. The CANKAP questionnaire consisted of 30 questions for sixth-grade students and 35 questions for seventh and eighth-grade students. Also, the participants were asked to identify their gender. The findings indicated that females had higher mean nutrition knowledge scores than boys in the seventh and eighth grades. There was no correlation between nutrition knowledge and food choices in the sixth-grade male or female students. However, there was a correlation between nutrition knowledge and food choices for girls in the seventh and eighth grades. In addition there was a correlation between nutrition knowledge and food choices for boys in the seventh and eighth grades.

Eating Behaviors Among School-age Children Associated With Perceptions of Stress

“…Girls approaching adolescence may become more concerned with their appearance, losing weight, and being thin. This finding is in line with Pirouznia (2001) and Xie and colleagues' (2003) finding that girls ate fewer unhealthy foods than boys as they grew older. Pre-adolescent girls receive a barrage of messages about body size, shape, and weight.…”

“…In contrast, only 85% of eighth-grader students consumed breakfast: similarly, eighth-grader students' fruit intake fell to 41% and vegetable intake fell to 25% (Lytle et al, 2000). Pirouznia (2001) found similar results in a sample of 532 middle school students. Nutrition knowledge and eating behaviors were poorer in older students.…”

“…Eating behaviors (in terms of snacks, food preferences, and overall nutrient intake) have been shown to vary widely according to gender and age (Wansink, Cheney, & Chan, 2003;Lytle, Seifert, Greenstein & McGovern, 2000;Pirouznia, 2001;Xie, Gilliland, Li, & Rockett, 2003). A longitudinal study by Lytle and colleagues (2000) found changes in breakfast consumption as students moved from third to eighth grade.…”

Nutrition-related habits and associated factors of Brazilian adolescents

“…These results can be explained by the fact that girls have more knowledge on nutritional (Pirouznia 2001) awareness and also make diets for loss of weight more often than and consequently consuming more fruits and vegetables (Yannakoulia et al 2004). …”

Adaptation, Update and Validation of the General Nutrition Questionnaire in a Portuguese Adolescent Sample

“…The influence of nutrition knowledge on food behavior has no consensus (Taylor et al 2005): Some studies found a weak association or no correlation at all (Mullaney, Corish, and Loxley 2009;Pirouznia 2001;SerraMajem et al 2007); others found a significant positive association (De Vriendt et al 2009;Shah et al 2010;Sharma, Gernand, and Day 2008), or a positive association only with fruits and vegetables (De Vriendt et al 2009;Parmer et al 2009;Wardle, Parmenter, and Waller 2000) or fat consumption .…”