Self-Reporting a Healthy Diet and Dietary Practices Among Undergraduate Nutrition and Non-Nutrition Majors

After our previous study revealed a positive correlation between a high number of nutrition classes and healthy dietary habits, we analyzed the impact of one nutrition class on dietary habits. The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of one introductory nutrition class in raising awareness of healthy dietary habits and inspiring healthy changes. Undergraduate students in NSC 170 were given pre-surveys the second week of class (n = 364) and post-surveys the last week of class (n = 281). Both pre- and post-surveys contained questions about demographic information, meal preparation, dietary habits, and dietary self-assessment. The pre-survey revealed a significant relationship between increased age and self-perception of an unhealthy diet (p = 0.066), a significant decrease in fast food meals with age (p = 0.018), and increased fruit and vegetable consumption with nutrition majors. The post-survey revealed a significant relationship between increased academic status and self-perception of a healthy diet (p = 0.053) and a significant relationship between weight loss and self-perception of a healthy diet (p = 0.0125). A comparison of pre- and post-surveys revealed a decrease in the number of fast food meals in juniors and a significant increase in vegetables among nutrition majors