NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, CONCEPTION AND BEHAVIOR OF LEBANESE STUDENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Background: Life style and nutrition habits of young Lebanese students are related to what they have learned from their family and teachers at schools. We examined the relationship between knowledge and conception of Lebanese university students gained from schools curriculum with their nutritional behavior and life style. Method: A self-reported questionnaire is distributed to 150 students at the faculty of pedagogy, Lebanese university. Demographic and mean comparison analysis of the data is presented; a regression analysis and correlations are applied to test the relationship between parametric variables. A t-test is used to check whether there is a difference between two types of Lebanese baccalaureate (sciences and non-sciences) on students' nutrition habits. Results: Our results showed that type of baccaclaurate affects only the conception and that the location affects only their nutritional behavior. Therefore young Lebanese students studying at the faculty of pedagogy have their own conception from high school curriculum and only the science section is affected by this conception more than non-science. Moreover, their home location (urban vs rural) affects only their behavior. Conclusions: The University is very important for the health education, it is the last chance for the students to improve their way of living and follow a healthy diet. Our findings suggest the need of a high emphasis to improve competence in the area of nutrition.