Novel Nutrition Education Approaches for Health Promotion: From Investigating Problems to Finding Solutions

Addressing nutritional issues and eating behaviours among university students: a narrative review

University life is a critical period for establishing healthy eating habits and attitudes. However, university students are at risk of developing poor eating habits due to various factors, including economic conditions, academic stress and lack of information about nutritional concepts. Poor diet quality leads to malnutrition or overnutrition, increasing the risk of preventable diseases. Food environments on university campuses also play a significant role in shaping the dietary habits of students, with the availability of and accessibility to healthy food options being important factors influencing food choices and overall diet quality. Disordered eating habits and body dissatisfaction are prevalent among university students and can lead to eating disorders. Income and living arrangements also influence dietary habits, with low household income and living alone being associated with unhealthy eating habits. This study is a narrative review that aimed to address nutritional issues and eating behaviours, specifically among university students. We investigated the eating behaviours of university students, including their dietary patterns, food choices and food environments. The objective of this review was to provide insights into the nutritional issues and eating behaviours of university students, with the aim of identifying target areas for intervention to improve the overall health and wellbeing among college students. University food environments need to be restructured to promote healthy eating, including the availability, accessibility, affordability and labelling of healthy foods, and policies to limit the availability of unhealthy foods and drinks on campus.

Influence of Health Education on Nutrition and Lifestyle Habits in the Spanish Population: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate how education centering around nutrition can influence diet quality and health-related behavior in the Spanish population.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed, and the validated NutSo-HH (Nutritional and Social Healthy Habits) questionnaire was administered. The overall sample was 1087 Spanish adults, 48.11% of whom had studied or were studying a degree in health sciences, compared to 51.89% who had no studies or were studying another subject. Differences between groups were assessed using statistical analyses.

RESULTS

The results indicated that people with higher nutrition education exhibited an increased consumption of vegetables (3.64 vs. 3.50), cereals (3.09 vs. 2.70), legumes (2.19 vs. 2.10) and water (3.47 vs. 3.34) (all p < 0.001) and a lower consumption of red meat (1.60 vs. 1.73) (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed in the consumption of the remaining analyzed food products. People with health literacy reported better self-perceived health (3.94 vs. 3.76) (p < 0.001) and had a lower body mass index (BMI) (23.68 kg/m2 vs. 24.75 kg/m2) (p < 0.001) than those without health literacy. No significant differences were observed in the time spent in sports practice and sedentary lifestyle or in variables related to eating disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

This study concluded that although health science education showed some benefits in eating habits and perceptions of well-being, did not significantly influence all aspects of nutritional habits and lifestyles. Further studies with a more holistic approach could provide a more complete picture of the influence of health education on overall well-being.

Vital role for primary healthcare providers: urgent need to educate the community about daily nutritional self-care to support immune function and maintain health

The importance of self-care to improve health and social well-being is well recognised. Nevertheless, there remains a need to encourage people to better understand how their body works, and how to keep it healthy. Because of its important role, part of this understanding should be based on why the immune system must be supported. This highly complex system is essential for defending against pathogens, but also for maintaining health throughout the body by preserving homeostasis and integrity. Accordingly, the immune system requires active management for optimal functioning and to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. In addition to regular exercise, healthy sleeping patterns, cultivating mental resilience, adequate nutrition through healthy and diverse dietary habits is key to the daily support of immune function. Diet and the immune system are closely intertwined, and a poor diet will impair immunity and increase the risk of acute and chronic diseases. To help elucidate the roles of primary healthcare providers in supporting individuals to engage in self-care, an international group of experts reviewed the evidence for the roles of the immune system in maintaining health and for nutrition in daily immune support, and discussed implications for population health and clinical practice.

Emotional Intelligence, Physical Activity Practice and Mediterranean Diet Adherence-An Explanatory Model in Elementary Education School Students

Currently, there is a global concern with regard to the lifestyles of young people. This study aims to study the association between Mediterranean diet adherence, emotional intelligence and physical activity practice in teenagers in the last cycle of elementary education. In turn, this objective is divided into (a) developing an explanatory model of the practice of physical activity, Mediterranean diet adherence and emotional intelligence; and (b) developing a multi-group model according to the gender of the participants. A descriptive, cross-sectional, comparative study was conducted in a sample of 293 elementary school students (M = 11.45; S.D = 0.31). The instruments used were an ad hoc socio-demographic questionnaire, the Trait Meta Mood Scale-24, the KIDMED questionnaire and the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children. The results show that males show a positive relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and emotional intelligence and between emotional intelligence and physical activity. In contrast, in the case of females, a negative relationship was observed between emotional intelligence and physical activity. In conclusion, it can be seen that gender plays a fundamental role in adolescence, being a key factor influencing an active and healthy lifestyle.