University Students' Knowledge and Perceptions About Concepts, Recommendations, and Health Effects of Added Sugars

Santana, Isabela Paz; Scapin, Tailane; Rodrigues, Vanessa Mello; Bernardo, Greyce Luci; Uggioni, Paula Lazzarin; Fernandes, Ana Carolina; Proença, Rossana Pacheco da Costa

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.896895

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 36 publications

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“…Moreover, egg consumption exceeded 1 portion daily, while the intake of sweets was greater than 5 portions per week. Students may be unaware of the health impacts associated with excessive consumption of added sugar ( 49 ). Likewise, other studies carried out in university students have reported similar findings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body mass index and healthy lifestyle practices among Peruvian university students: a comparative study among academic discipline

Saintila,

Calizaya-Milla,

Carranza-Cubas

et al. 2024

Front. Nutr.

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BackgroundExcess body weight and an unhealthy lifestyle are a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases. University students are susceptible to unhealthy habits and obesity. This study compared body mass index (BMI) and healthy lifestyle practices among university students from four academic disciplines: Health Sciences, Business Sciences, Human Sciences and Education, and Engineering/Architecture.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out using a sample of 6,642 university students selected by non-probability convenience sampling. The Diet and Healthy Lifestyle Scale (DEVS), the Peruvian validation of the Vegetarian Lifestyle Index (VLI), was used to assess healthy lifestyle practices.ResultsStudents in the areas of Business Sciences and Engineering/Architecture had a higher BMI than their peers in Health Sciences (B = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.15–0.56 and 0.32, 95% CI: 0.13–0.52; p = 0.001). Additionally, these students tended to adopt less healthy lifestyle (B = −0.11, 95% CI: −0.20 to −0.01 and −0.09, 95% CI: −0.18 to −0.00; p < 0.05) compared to those in Health Sciences.ConclusionAlthough students of Health Sciences and Human Sciences and Education exhibited healthy lifestyle patterns, there is a clear need to improve eating and living habits in general among the university population to mitigate the risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body mass index and healthy lifestyle practices among Peruvian university students: a comparative study among academic discipline

Saintila,

Calizaya-Milla,

Carranza-Cubas

et al. 2024

Front. Nutr.

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Greek-Cypriot students’ knowledge, attitudes, and actions regarding consumption of added sugar: A cross-sectional study

Antoniou,

Chrysostomou,

Giannakou

et al. 2023

MNM

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OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices toward added sugar intake among Cypriot university students. METHODS: This cross- sectional study was conducted among 200 students enrolled in public and private universities in Cyprus. Knowledge, attitudes and practices toward added sugar consumption was evaluated using self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Only 8.5% of the students were able to accurately report the recommended values of sugar consumption. Most of the participants (76% ) were aware of the health consequences of excessive sugar consumption, whereas 63.5% were aware of the existence of hidden sources of sugar and 88% of students stated that they read the nutrition declaration of the products that they are considering consuming. About 67% of students stated that they are actively trying to reduce their sugar consumption and the majority consume sugary beverages less than 1 day per week. CONCLUSIONS: Results support that although students read the nutrition facts label there is a limited awareness of sugar intake recommendations. Tailored-made strategies targeting students in order to improve sugar-related knowledge could be warranted.

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Consumers' Response to Sugar Label Formats in Packaged Foods: A Multi-Methods Study in Brazil

et al. 2022

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Providing information about the sugar content of packaged foods on product labels is an important strategy to lower consumers' sugar intake. This study assessed the effect of exposure to different sugar labels on consumers' understanding of the sugar content of foods and their food choices. In the first phase, five focus groups were conducted with a convenience sample of Brazilian adults to explore their perceptions about food labelling in general and sugar labelling in particular. Based on the qualitative results, four sugar label formats were developed and subsequently tested in a five-arm study on 1,277 adults via a randomised controlled online survey. The formats were: (i) no sugar information—control, (ii) total and added sugar content displayed in the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP), (iii) a front-of-package (FoP) octagonal warning for “high-in-sugar” products, (iv) a FoP magnifying glass warning for “high-in-sugar” products, and (v) a “high-in-sugar” warning text embedded on the NIP. Participants from the focus groups reported being confused about the meaning of “sugar” and “added sugar” on food labels and indicated that more interpretive labels, such as the FoP warnings, would help them choose products with low sugar content. In the experiment, all intervention sugar label formats improved participants' understanding of the sugar content of the tested food products, with the FoP warnings (iii and iv) showing the best results. While non-significant differences among label conditions were observed for food choices, the FoP octagonal warning prompted participants to choose high-in-sugar products less often. Given current public policy agendas aiming to reduce added sugar intake, there is a need to strengthen food labelling policies and nutrition disclosure policies that target the display of added sugar and build consumer awareness in using these tools to avoid high-in-sugar products.

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University Students' Knowledge and Perceptions About Concepts, Recommendations, and Health Effects of Added Sugars

Cited by 3 publications

References 36 publications

Body mass index and healthy lifestyle practices among Peruvian university students: a comparative study among academic discipline

Body mass index and healthy lifestyle practices among Peruvian university students: a comparative study among academic discipline

Greek-Cypriot students’ knowledge, attitudes, and actions regarding consumption of added sugar: A cross-sectional study

Consumers' Response to Sugar Label Formats in Packaged Foods: A Multi-Methods Study in Brazil

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