REASONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING AND DIETARY HABITS BETWEEN UNDERGRADUATE NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES COLLEGE STUDENTS AND NON-NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

Background: Research shows that cooking meals improves diet quality. However, there is limited evidence that undergraduate students in nutrition or dietetics programs cook more meals while they are learning about foods and its impacts on human health. Methods: An 11-question survey was completed by 238 nutritional science majors (majors) and 91 non-nutritional science majors (non-majors). They were asked about several things, most notably the frequency of cooking meals, eating fast-food, and fruit and vegetable consumption. Results: Majors cooked meals more often than non-majors(p=0.059). When comparing the students in freshman and senior majors, senior majors cooked meals more often than freshman majors (p=0.023). The students who reported living in apartments, houses, or condos, or with parents, relatives, or spouses cooked more meals than students living in dorms (p=0.006). Majors consumed significantly less fast-foods than non-majors (p=0.022). Majors ate more fruits and vegetables than non-majors (p=0.005, p=0.025). Conclusions: This study suggests that nutrition-related education may have a positive impact on decreasing the frequency of fast food consumption, increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and increasing the number of meals that are cooked.