EXPLORING THE LEVEL OF NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE AND INFLUENCING FACTORS IN A TURKISH COMMUNITY SAMPLE

Ayten Aylin ALSAFFAR
2014 INTERNATIONAL PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL OF NUTRITION RESEARCH  
The aim of the study is to explore the level of general nutrition knowledge of university staff using a general nutrition knowledge questionnaire (GNKQ) and examine the effects of demographic variation in knowledge. A total of 385 employees (aged 18 and over) of a university in Istanbul participated in the study by completing the modified, translated and validated form of GNKQ by Parmenter and Wardle (1999). Participants completed the written questionnaires in their own time, without any
more » ... sion. Significant differences in knowledge between demographic groups were found, with the middle aged group (35 to 50 years) having better knowledge than both the younger and the older group and people with a university or post-graduate degree performing much better than people completing primary or high school (p<0.05). No difference was found between the knowledge levels of males and females. The mean general knowledge score was found as 46%. Although the majority of the group (75%) had a university degree or above, there were serious gaps in knowledge even on daily recommendations. Possible reasons of lack of knowledge in such a well-educated group were discussed along with the recent public health nutrition efforts in Turkey.
doi:10.17362/dbhad.201428960 fatcat:mnzbwv67i5ajnh2lb56g7xbr4u