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Nutrition literacy is associated with healthy-eating behaviour among college students in Taiwan

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the nutrition literacy status of Taiwanese college students and to assess the relationship between nutrition literacy and healthy-eating behaviours. Design: Cross-sectional design with convenience sampling. Setting: Six universities in northern, central and southern Taiwan; both national and private universities were included in each region. Method: A maximum of 220 students was recruited from each university with no more than 45 students from one department. Data were collected using a self-rated nutrition literacy scale and questions about frequency of practising healthy-eating behaviours and demographic information. Results: The mean score for self-rated nutrition literacy was 2.8 (out of 4), and the mean score for healthy-eating behaviours was 3.07 (out of 5). Results of hierarchical regression showed that nutrition literacy explained 17.2% of the total variance of healthy-eating behaviours of college students, controlling for confounding variables. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that nutrition literacy among college students was not optimal, and there was a positive association between higher levels of nutrition literacy and healthier dietary behaviours. Therefore, identifying methods to increase nutrition literacy among college students is essential to promote healthy-eating behaviours.