The association between dietary fat knowledge and consumption of foods rich in fat among first-year students in self-catering residence at a university of technology, Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association between the dietary fat knowledge and consumption of foods rich in fat among first-year students in self-catering residence at a university of technology, Cape Town, South Africa. Design: The two concepts – the dietary fat knowledge (represented by dietary fat food knowledge and dietary fat nutrition knowledge) and the consumption of foods rich in fat – were assessed separately. Two norm-referenced, valid and reliable knowledge tests and an intake screening questionnaire were used for the assessments (as subsidiary objectives), before the associations between the concepts were determined (main objective). The dietary fat food and nutrition knowledge as assessed was categorised in the range poor or below average, average and good or above average, and the consumption of foods rich in fat as high, quite high, the typical Western diet, approaching low or desirable. The Pearson‟s chi-square test was applied to these categorical findings to determine if associations (five percent significance) existed between the concepts. Results: The stratified sample included 225 first-year students. Nearly half (48.4%) of them achieved an average fat food knowledge score, while the majority (80.9%) achieved a poor fat nutrition knowledge score. More than half (52.5%) either followed a typical Western diet, a diet quite high in fat or high in fat. While no significant (p > 0.05) association was found between the students‟ dietary fat food knowledge and consumption of foods rich in fat, significant results were found in the association between the students‟ dietary fat nutrition knowledge and consumption of foods rich in fat (p < 0.05) and between their fat food knowledge and fat nutrition knowledge (p < 0.001). Conclusions: An inverse association was found between the students‟ dietary fat nutrition knowledge and fat consumption, a positive association between their dietary fat food knowledge and dietary fat nutrition knowledge, and no association between their dietary fat food knowledge and fat consumption.