Korean J Community Nutr. 2015 Oct;20(5):327-337. Korean.
Published online Oct 31, 2015.
Copyright © 2015 The Korean Society of Community Nutrition
Original Article

A Study on Sodium-related Dietary Attitude and Behaviors According to Sodium-related Nutrition Knowledge of University Students

Mi-Hyun Kim,1 Jee-Young Yeon,2 Jong Wook Kim,3 Jae-Eon Byun,4 So-Young Bu,5 Mi-Kyeong Choi,6 and Yun-Jung Bae7
    • 1Department of Food and Nutrition, Korea National University of Transportation, Jeungpyeong, Korea.
    • 2Department of Food and Nutrition, Seowon University, Cheongju, Korea.
    • 3International Cooperation Office, Director General for Planning and Coordination, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Cheongju, Korea.
    • 4Imported Food Analysis Division, Gwangju Regional Food and Drug Administration, Gwangju, Korea.
    • 5Department of Food and Nutrition, Daegu University, Daegu, Korea.
    • 6Division of Food Science, Kongju National University, Yesan, Korea.
    • 7Division of Food Science and Culinary Arts, Shinhan University, Uijeongbu, Korea.
Received August 23, 2015; Revised October 13, 2015; Accepted October 23, 2015.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objectives

Dietary life is closely associated with dietary attitude and diet-related knowledge. Particularly, dietary habit such as sodium intake can be affected by various dietary behaviors such as food choices, dietary attitude toward salty food and a preference for salty taste. The purpose of this study was to assess sodium-related nutrition knowledge and to identify sodium-related attitude and behaviors according to the level of sodium-related knowledge of university students.

Methods

Anthropometric measurements were provided by 408 students who participated in this study. The study participants answered questionnaires to provide information on general dietary behaviors, sodium-related dietary attitude and other behavioral factors. A total score of nutrition knowledge was used to categorize study participants in to two groups, namely, low level in sodium-related knowledge (LNaK) or high level in sodium-related knowledge (HNaK) and the attitude and the behaviors of students toward sodium intake were compared between these two groups.

Results

The ratio of female students in HNaK group was higher than that in the LNaK group. HNaK group had a higher score in checking nutrition label of processed food than the LNaK group. Total score of sodium-related attitude and behaviors of HNaK group were 34.81 and 32.75, respectively and these scores were significantly higher than that of the LNaK group whose scores were 32.57 and 30.57, respectively. Total energy intake was not different between two groups but the intakes of calcium, vitamin B2 and folate were higher in HNaK group than in the LNaK group. Correlation analysis adjusted for age and gender revealed that total score of sodium-related nutrition knowledge was positively correlated with total score of sodium-related attitude and behaviors.

Conclusions

In conclusion, students who had high level of sodium-related nutrition knowledge had desirable attitude and behaviors toward sodium intake and these results can be considered in nutrition education for university students.

Keywords
Sodium; Dietary Attitude; Dietary Behaviors; Nutrition Knowledge; University Students

Tables

Table 1
General characteristics of the subjects

Table 2
Sodium-related nutritional knowledge by the gender of the subjects

Table 3
General characteristics of the subjects according to the level of sodium-related nutrition knowledge

Table 4
Dietary habits of the subjects according to the level of sodium-related nutrition knowledge

Table 5
Sodium-related dietary attitude of the subjects according to the level of sodium-related nutrition knowledge

Table 6
Sodium-related dietary behavior of the subjects according to the level of sodium-related nutrition knowledge

Table 7
Mean daily energy and nutrient intakes of the subjects according to the level of sodium-related nutrition knowledge

Table 8
Correlation coefficient of sodium-related nutritional knowledge score with the blood pressure, sodium-related attitude, and behavior score in the subjects

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