Cancer prevention nutrition knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes among health-related concentration students

INTRODUCTION:  Many types of cancer are related to an unhealthy diet. Unfortunately, a majority of adults are not following cancer prevention nutrition recommendations; therefore, a trusted source of practical dietary information is needed. The objective of this study was to examine knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding basic nutrition recommended for cancer prevention of university students enrolled in a health-related concentration.

METHODS:  An online cross-sectional survey of medicine, physician assistant, nursing, public health, and nutrition students at a Midwestern university was administered during November 2013. The survey included questions from the 1992 National Health Interview Survey - Cancer Epidemiology Supplement. Group comparisons by gender, academic status, and department/school were analyzed using chi-square tests.

RESULTS:  A majority of respondents had high knowledge and beliefs regarding diet and cancer risk (53.3%), but 45.3% had low knowledge of the fat and fiber content of foods. Females scored higher than males on the fat and fiber scale (p < 0.05). A significantly higher proportion of undergraduate respondents (80.9%) than post-baccalaureate (69.3%) perceived the cost of healthy foods to be a barrier (p < 0.05). Nutrition students had the highest proportion of moderate/high knowledge of fat and fiber (70.0%); public health students had the lowest (43.7%; p< 0.01).

DISCUSSION:  Students had a high knowledge of diet and cancer but lower knowledge of fat/fiber than expected. Findings suggest the need to improve basic nutrition education, most notably among public health students, due to the potential for nutritional counseling in these students’ future career and personal life.