The effect of an environmental nutritional intervention on knowledge and practice of college dormitory students

This study investigated the effectiveness of a low-intensity nutritional intervention in residences of a college dormitory in terms of their nutritional knowledge, behaviors, and related factors. We provided four nutrition-related posters (one per week) and six self-help pamphlets with different contents to 260 eligible students. One hundred eighty-six students completed the questionnaire after the 1-month intervention. The respondent rates were 58% and 83% for man and women. The average age was 18 years. Half of the male students (n=51) had a body mass index (BMI) of between 18.5 and 24 (kg/cm²), and 58% of female students (n=46) had a BMI of <18.5 (kg/cm²). This low-intensity intervention was not effective in producing nutritional knowledge or dietary behavioral changes. Almost 95% of students ate less than three servings of the vegetable group according to the dietary guidelines. The reasons were "too great a quantity" and "not delicious"; 68% of students did not eat fruit everyday, the reasons for which were that fruit is "not easy to get", they had "no such habit", and fruit is "trouble to eat". The main nutritional information sources were from newspapers, TV, radio, and parents in that order. Continuous and more-extensive nutrition interventions may be required to produce more-significant and broader effects.