Nutrition Beliefs and Practices of College Students Enrolled in Health Education Courses

Research regarding college students' dietary practices has shown that students are not making healthy nutrition choices. College students are exposed to environmental influences that impact their food choices (DeBate et al, 2001). A 10-item survey on dietary practices (4 items) and beliefs (6 items) with a 3-point scale (disagree=1 and agree=3) was administered to 173 students (72.2% female, 42.8% seniors) enrolled in an upper-level nutrition course. Surveys were completed anonymously at the beginning of the course, prior to instruction in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Approximately 60% of students feel confident in their ability to decide if nutrition information is truthful, 68.2% use food labels to aid in purchasing decisions, 49.1% lowered fat intake in the past few months, and 21.4% reported consuming at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. The percentage of students who disagreed with the item that foods are either good or bad for you significantly decreased from 2006 (61.8%) to 2008 (51.6%). While there were no other significant differences, trends indicated fewer students disagreeing that supplements are more beneficial than food choices. Another troubling trend was that 43.0% of students agreed that protein supplements help people build muscle, and only 18.0% disagreed with the statement. The evidence suggests that students enrolled in nutrition courses are not necessarily eating healthy diets and hold beliefs that are not aligned with recommended dietary practices in the US. Awareness and education need to be part of high school and college programming to decrease nutrition misconceptions.