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Nutrition practice and knowledge of first-year medical students

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Version 2 2024-06-04, 02:12
Version 1 2017-08-29, 13:10
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-04, 02:12 authored by R Perlstein, S McCoombe, Susie MacfarlaneSusie Macfarlane, Colin BellColin Bell, Caryl NowsonCaryl Nowson
Objectives. To compare the knowledge ofAustralian dietary recommendations to the dietary practices of first-yearmedical students. Design. Over a period of four years, anonymous online surveys were completed bymedical students attending a first-year nutrition lecture. Background. There is little information on the nutritional knowledge and dietary practices of medical students. Setting. First-year postgraduate university medical students, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Participants. Between the years 2012 and 2016, 32%–61% of first-year students completed the survey. Phenomenon of Interest. Student’s knowledge of dietary guidelines and related practices. Analysis. The frequency of response was assessed across the different year cohorts using descriptive statistics. Results. Between 59% and 93% of first-year students correctly identified the recommended daily servings for fruit, and between 61% and 84% knew the vegetable recommendations. In contrast only 40%–46% met the guidelines for fruit and 12%–19% met the guidelines for vegetables. Conclusions and Implications. Discrepancies between students’ nutrition knowledge and behavior can provide learning opportunities. With low rates of fruit and vegetable consumption in medical students, increased awareness of links between nutrition and health, together with encouragement to make behavioral changes, may increase the skills of graduates to support patients in improving dietary intake.

History

Journal

Journal of biomedical education

Volume

2017

Article number

5013670

Pagination

1-10

Location

Cairo, Egypt

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

2314-5021

eISSN

2314-503X

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2017, Robyn Perlstein et al

Publisher

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

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