ATTITUDES TOWARD BEEF AMONG NUTRITION COLLEGE STUDENTS

• Published in: Annals of nutrition and metabolism 2017-10, Vol.71 (Suppl. 2), p.1271
• Main Authors: Koritar, Priscila, Alvarenga, Marle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Beef; Body mass index; Body size; College students; Colleges & universities; Eating; Eating behavior; Eating disorders; Food; Meat; Nutrition; Nutritional status; Professional practice; Risk; Risk taking; Students; Weight
• ISSN: 0250-6807; 1421-9697
• DOI: 10.1159/000480486

Background and objectives: Although meat consumption be indicated as part of healthy eating, attitudes toward meat are diverse in society. Eating attitudes -- beliefs, thoughts, feelings, behavior and relationships with food -- of nutrition college students will guide professional practice. The purpose was to evaluate attitudes toward beef among nutrition college students of state of Sao Paulo participants of the Brazilian cohort Nutritionist Health Study - NutriHS. Methods: A sample of 613 nutrition college students (from 18 to 30 years) of 34 public and private institutions in 22 cities of the state of Sao Paulo answered online, in free association, the first word that comes to mind when they think in the word "beef " and a questionnaire about eating disorders (ED) risk behavior. They related age, weight, height, type of institution and graduation year. The nutritional status was assessed by means of Body Mass Index. The frequency of the words that came to mind when students were prompted to free associate to the word "beef " was evaluated and compared according to ED risk behavior, type of institution and graduation year. Results: Students were on average 22.9 years (SD 3.0), 70.5% had normal range weight, 50.9% were in the first two years of graduation and 28.4% presented ED risk. Of the ten most frequent associations 34.4% reported some nutrient, 23.9% some type of meat, 20.9% culinary association, 7.9% appreciation, 3.1% meal, 2.5% animal, 2.5% disapproval, 1.6% blood, 1.3% death and 1.0% frequency of consumption. Some differences between groups were observed as associations with type of meat were more frequent among students of fifth year and culinary associations were more frequent between students with low weight. Conclusions: Attitudes toward beef are varied among nutrition college students. Although this variation is expected, the results indicate that attitudes toward food should be better discussed during the college, since they can directly influence professional practices.