AI Insight
This study of 160 physical education students found that higher nutritional awareness was strongly associated with less emotional and external eating, but more restrained eating behaviors. Men reported more external eating while women reported more restrained eating, with eating patterns also varying by academic level. Body mass index and estimated resting metabolic rate showed weaker associations with eating behaviors than nutritional awareness.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that nutrition education programs for physical education students should be tailored to specific behavioral patterns and demographic characteristics rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. Understanding the relationship between nutritional knowledge and actual eating behaviors can help develop more effective interventions for this population who will likely influence others' health behaviors in their future careers.
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⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
Dieser Artikel wurde noch nicht von unabhängigen Experten begutachtet. Die Ergebnisse sind vorläufig und sollten mit Vorsicht interpretiert werden.
Background: University life can influence food choice even among physically active students. This study examined nutritional awareness, emotional, external, and restrained eating, body mass index (BMI), and estimated resting metabolic rate (RMR) in physical education students, and assessed differences by sex and academic level. Methods: A descriptive, analytical and correlational design was used. The sample included 160 physical education students (95 women and 65 men; mean age 20.42 {+/-} 1.53 years) from An-Najah National University. Nutritional awareness was assessed with a 15-item scale, and eating behaviour with the 33-item Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. BMI was calculated from measured height and body mass, and RMR was estimated using an equation developed for athletes. Correlations, group comparisons, robust interaction models, and hierarchical regression were applied. Results: Nutritional awareness was high (3.73 {+/-} 0.81), whereas emotional (3.11 {+/-} 1.18), external (3.20 {+/-} 0.95), and restrained eating (3.25 {+/-} 1.11) were moderate. Higher awareness was associated with less emotional (r = -0.617) and external eating (r = -0.652), but greater restrained eating (r = 0.644; all q < 0.001). These associations remained after adjustment. Men reported more external eating, while women reported more restrained eating. Eating patterns also varied by academic level. BMI and estimated RMR showed weaker and less consistent associations with eating behaviour. Conclusions: Nutritional awareness was closely associated with reported eating behaviour, whereas BMI and estimated RMR were less informative. Sex and academic-level differences suggest that nutrition education for physical education students may be more useful when adapted to specific behavioural patterns. The findings represent associations and group differences and do not establish causal relationships. Keywords: physical education students; nutritional awareness; eating behaviour; emotional eating; external eating; restrained eating; body mass index; resting metabolic rate