Nutritional habits among nursing students using Moore Index for Nutrition Self Care: A cross-sectional study from the nursing school Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: The topics of under-nutrition and over-nutrition are important and have significant roles in adolescent life. These concepts must be explored in adolescents owing to the undesirable effects that being underweight or overweight causes. Purpose: To evaluate the nutrition habits among adolescents from King Saud University nursing school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using the Arabic Version of Moore Index for Nutrition Self Care. Method: This was a cross-sectional study carried out at a King Saud University nursing school campus to evaluate the Nutrition habits among adolescents. Self-care practises related to nutrition were assessed by using a self-report questionnaire that consisted of 50 items assessed on a five-point Likert scale. Data were collected between January to March 2019. Findings: The study results revealed that most students 120 (85.7%) had fair nutritional habits, while 11 (7.9%) had good nutritional habits and 9 (7.9%) had poor nutritional habits. There was a significant difference between those who exercised regularly (mean 53.42) and those who did not exercise regularly (mean 46.83; p =.002). In addition, simple linear regression revealed that working out regularly was associated with the score on the nutritional questionnaire (β = −6.41; SE 2.5, p =.01). Results revealed no significant associations between gender or age and (p =.8; p =.9) nutritional score. Conclusion: To increase levels of good nutritional habits and awareness, it may be useful to adopt educational programs for dietary consumption and physical training promotion.