Evolución en los conocimientos sobre alimentación: una intervención educativa en estudiantes universitarios = Developments in food knowledge: an educational intervention in university studentes

Abstract

To analyze the relationship between the level of knowledge about food, the degree of adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MeDi) and nutritional status; an intervention study was performed with pre- and post-intervention evaluation after three educational sessions, designed according to the learning preferences of health science university students. Sixty-five physiotherapy and podology students participated. The mean age was 22.0 years and participants were mostly male 58.5%. The majority were normal weight (63.1%), but many (69.2%)needed to improve their eating habits in order to comply with DiMe recommendations. The statistical relationship found between the level of previous knowledge in nutrition and nutritional status (Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient= 0.7; p= 0.049) suggests that nutritional education actions in this group could contribute to improving the quality of the diet, nutritional status and future health of university students. Educational sessions were able to improve the level of knowledge regarding nutrition and food in the majority of students, thus it is possible to consider the intervention as an efficient tool for the transmission of nutritional knowledge in this group. Key words: Food habits; Nutritional education; Mediterranean diet; Learning strategies.