Nutrition knowledge of young adults

The main objective of this study was to prepare a questionnaire on basic nutrition knowledge and to standardize its use for groups of young adults. Sixteen professionals in nutrition and home economics education validated statements for use in the questionnaire. The final instrument was a total of 50 multiple choice questions based on 20 items related to physiological aspects of nutrition, 10 to socio-psychological and economic aspects and 20 to food as sources of nutrients.

The instrument was pretested and standardized with 168 students at the end of an introductory nutrition course. Groups who had prior nutrition training scored higher than most of the other groups. Significantly lower mean scores were found for groups of university students without prior nutrition instruction, student nurses, 4-H leaders, and parents. Generalizations identified in the study could be used to develop programs of nutrition education for the public. The questionnaire proved reliable for testing nutrition knowledge.