Class size as a determinant factor in dietary changes in nursing students / El tamaño de la clase como factor determinante en los cambios dietéticos en estudiantes de enfermería

Introduction: While nursing students receive foundational education in biochemistry and nutrition during their first year of studies, the influence of nutrition education at the university level on their dietary behavior, particularly considering class size, remains unclear.Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a nutrition course on dietary changes among undergraduate nursing students, taking into account the size of the class group.Methodology: A pre-post quasi-experimental study with a within-subject design was conducted, measuring the baseline period (T0-T1) and intervention period (T1-T2). The educational intervention focused on providing basic nutritional knowledge about nutrients, balanced diets and the Mediterranean Diet within a Faculty of Medicine and Nursing. Participants included first-year undergraduate nursing students, divided into three groups based on class size: large group (n = 101), medium group (n = 70) and small group (n = 22). The frequency of recommended food group consumption for main, daily, weekly and occasional meals, as well as adherence to the Mediterranean Diet was analyzed.Findings: Only the small class group demonstrated a significant improvement in dietary quality following the educational intervention (p < 0.05), with increased consumption of fruits (p < 0.05), nuts (p < 0.001), and oily fish (p < 0.05).Discussion: Choosing the best teaching strategy can be crucial in getting nursing students to put healthy dietary knowledge into practice to improve their eating habits.Conclusions: The findings suggest that enhancing students’ personal dietary habits can contribute to the improvement of their nutrition counseling skills.(AU)

Elecciones y creencias alimentarias: interrelación con la adherencia a la dieta mediterránea, preferencias alimentarias y consumo de alimentos en estudiantes de enfermería / Dietary choices and beliefs: interrelationship with mediterranean dietadherence, food preferences and food consumption in nursing students

Introducción: Las creencias sobre alimentación y la elección de los alimentos condicionan la dieta del alumnado universitario. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar los cambios de las preferencias alimentarias, la dieta y la Adherencia a la Dieta Mediterránea en relación a las creencias irracionales y la elección de alimentos del alumnado del Grado en Enfermería al inicio de la carrera universitaria.Material y Métodos: Estudio pre-post cuasiexperimental con diseño intrasujeto, donde estudiantes de enfermería, de forma anónima, rellenaron cuestionarios de frecuencia de consumo, creencias alimentarias, elección y preferencias de alimentos al inicio de la carrera universitaria y 15 semanas más tarde, tras cursar la asignatura de nutrición.Resultados: 196 estudiantes, en su mayoría mujeres, completaron los cuestionarios. Tras cursar el primer cuatrimestre, disminuyeron sus creencias irracionales (p<0,001) y mejoró el consumo de alimentos, disminuyendo la preferencia por carne (p<0,001), repostería (p<0,05) y aperitivos (p<0,05). Además, el alumnado con mayores creencias irracionales presenta mayor consumo de cereales (p<0,05), repostería (p<0,001) y refrescos (p<0,001) y tiene la repostería entre sus favoritos (p<0,05). Por último, el estudiantado con mayores buenas elecciones de alimentos presenta una mejor Adherencia a la Dieta Mediterránea (p<0,001).Conclusiones: El inicio de la carrera universitaria implica cambios en las creencias sobre alimentación y en el consumo y las preferencias alimentarias entre el alumnado de Enfermería. Además, el consumo de alimentos y la calidad dietética están relacionados con menores creencias irracionales y mejores elecciones de alimentos. Cursar la asignatura de nutrición puede disminuir las creencias irracionales que influirían en la dieta.(AU)

Introduction: Irrational beliefs about food and foodchoices condition the diet of university students. The aim ofthis study is to analyze the changes in food preferences, dietand adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in relation to irra-tional beliefs and food choices of students of the Degree inNursing at the beginning of their university career.Material and Methods: Pre-post quasi-experimentalstudy with an intrasubject design, where nursing students,anonymously, filled out questionnaires on consumption frequency, food beliefs, food choices and preferences at the be-ginning of their university studies and 15 weeks later, aftertaking the nutrition course.Results: 196 students, mostly women, completed thequestionnaires. After the first term, their irrational beliefs de-creased (p<0.001) and food consumption improved, decreas-ing the preference for meat (p<0.001), pastries (p<0.05) andsnacks (p<0.05). In addition, students with higher irrationalbeliefs presented higher consumption of cereals (p<0.05),pastries (p<0.001) and soft drinks (p<0.001) and had pas-tries among their favorites (p<0.05). Finally, the studentswith better food choices had a better adherence to theMediterranean Diet (p<0.001).Conclusions: The beginning of the university career im-plies changes in food beliefs and food consumption andpreferences among nursing students. In addition, food con-sumption and dietary quality are related to a lower level ofirrational beliefs and better food choices. Taking the nutri-tion course may decrease irrational beliefs that would influ-ence diet.(AU)