Nutritional knowledge among Kuwaiti college students

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the level of nutritional knowledge (NK) among male Kuwaiti college students and to correlate NK scores with different nutritional domains. Methods: A random sample of 378 students was asked to answer a questionnaire regarding socio-demographic and health-related factors and answer questions assessing their NK on different domains. Height and weight were measured. Results: NK was low. NK on sodium and carbohydrates was the highest, where those of protein and cholesterol were the lowest. Only older age, healthy dental status, and high academic achievement in high school were associated with high NK. NK scores of different nutritional domains were weekly correlated with each other. While the NK on cholesterol correlated with NK on all other domains. NK on calories/food intake correlated with less than half of the domains. Conclusion: NK was found to be low and interrelated. NK education should aim to improve NK especially in those groups with the lowest scores.