Nutrition Literacy Mediates the Relationships between Multi-Level Factors and College Students’ Healthy Eating Behavior: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sample Selection
2.2. Recruitment and Procedures
2.3. Instruments
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Participant Characteristics
3.2. Nutrition Literacy and Healthy Eating Behavior
3.3. Predictive Effect of Nutrition Literacy on Healthy Eating Behavior
3.4. The Mediating Effect of Nutrition Literacy
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Factors | Example | Item | CVI | Cronbach’s α | ICC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intrapersonal Level | |||||
Preference for healthy food a | I prefer fruit juice to fresh fruit | 7 | 1 | 0.742 | 0.850 ** |
Healthy eating attitude | I think that it’s nice to have a healthy diet | 2 | 1 | 0.865 | 0.692 ** |
Healthy eating self-efficacy | I’m sure that I can maintain a healthy diet | 2 | 1 | 0.882 | 0.634 ** |
Emotional eating | When I am sad, I eat and vent my emotions | 4 | 1 | 0.892 | 0.762 ** |
Mindless eating | I often do other things while eating | 1 | 1 | - | 0.667 ** |
Healthy eating difficulty | I think it takes time to maintain a healthy diet | 3 | 1 | 0.759 | 0.584 ** |
Interpersonal Level | |||||
Social eating | I often dine with others | 2 | 1 | 0.782 | 0.723 ** |
Peer social support | My friends encourage me to adopt a healthy diet | 2 | 1 | 0.862 | 0.394 ** |
Family social support | My family members encourage me to adopt a healthy diet | 2 | 1 | 0.944 | 0.703 ** |
Environmental Level | |||||
Availability of healthy foods | It is easy to buy vegetables where I live or at school | 3 | 1 | 0.782 | 0.695 ** |
Availability of unhealthy foods | It is easy to buy fast food where I live or at school | 3 | 1 | 0.882 | 0.465 ** |
Macrosystem Level | |||||
Exposure to food-related advertising | I often watch food-related advertisements or shows | 2 | 1 | 0.832 | 0.651 ** |
Exposure to healthy eating campaigns | I am often exposed to messages regarding a healthy diet | 1 | 1 | - | 0.434 ** |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. Intrapersonal Level | 0.517 | |||
2. Interpersonal Level | 0.444 * | 0.599 | ||
3. Environmental Level | 0.226 | 0.379 * | 0.729 | |
4. Macrosystem Level | 0.353 | 0.420 | 0.207 | 0.674 |
Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | Model 4 | Model 5 | Model 6 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ΔR2 | 0.039 | 0.278 | 0.004 | 0.012 | 0.025 | 0.054 |
ΔF | 2.129 * | 24.864 ** | 0.701 | 3.148 * | 7.080 ** | 32.542 *** |
Δp | 0.040 | 0.000 | 0.552 | 0.044 | 0.001 | 0.000 |
R2 (Final) | 0.039 | 0.317 | 0.321 | 0.333 | 0.358 | 0.411 |
F (Final) | 2.129 * | 13.063 ** | 10.719 *** | 9.991 *** | 10.003 *** | 11.913 *** |
p (Final) | 0.040 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.025 | 0.054 |
Variables | Mediator | Dependent | BC 95% CI | Mediation Effect % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nutrition Literacy | Healthy Eating Behavior | ||||
M2 | M1 | M3 | |||
Effect | Total Effect | Direct Effect | Indirect Effect | Indirect Effect/Total Effect | |
Intrapersonal Level | |||||
IV: Preference for healthy food | 0.212 *** | 0.322 *** | 0.234 *** | 0.088 † | 27.3% |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.415 *** | (0.038~0.135) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.158 (84.21 ***) | ||||
IV: Healthy eating attitude | 0.403 *** | 0.362 *** | 0.212 *** | 0.150 † | 41.4% |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.374 *** | (0.101~0.205) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.112 (58.21 ***) | ||||
IV: Healthy eating self-efficacy | 0.381 *** | 0.478 *** | 0.354 *** | 0.124 † | 25.9% |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.327 *** | (0.082~0.177) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.087 (58.38 ***) | ||||
IV: Emotional eating | 0.103 * | 0.093 | 0.046 | 0.047 | - |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.459 *** | (−0.019~0.092) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.200 (99.64 ***) | ||||
IV: Mindless eating | 0.026 | −0.102 * | −0.114 * | 0.012 | - |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.466 *** | (−0.055~0.049) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.208 (105.58 ***) | ||||
IV: Healthy eating difficulty | −0.056 | −0.102 * | −0.076 | −0.026 | - |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.459 *** | (−0.096~0.021) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.201 (101.03 ***) | ||||
Interpersonal Level | |||||
IV: Social eating | 0.114 * | 0.089 | 0.037 | 0.052 | - |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.459 *** | (−0.019~0.090) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.200 (99.58 ***) | ||||
IV: Peer social support | 0.214 *** | 0.290 *** | 0.200 *** | 0.090 † | 31.0% |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.419 *** | (0.053~0.154) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.161 (84.24 ***) | ||||
IV: Family social support | 0.220 *** | 0.201 *** | 0.104 * | 0.097 † | 48.3% |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.441 *** | (0.044~0.147) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.177 (89.52 ***) | ||||
Environmental Level | |||||
IV: Availability of healthy food | 0.161 ** | 0.167 ** | 0.095 * | 0.072 † | 43.1% |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.449 *** | (0.028~0.132) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.189 (94.99 ***) | ||||
IV: Availability of unhealthy food | 0.168 ** | −0.010 | −0.089 | 0.079 † | - |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.476 *** | (0.005~0.109) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.213 (105.54 ***) | ||||
Macrosystem Level | |||||
IV: Exposure to food-related advertising | 0.083 | 0.056 | 0.020 | 0.038 | - |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.460 *** | (−0.030~0.084) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.203 (99.68 ***) | ||||
IV: Exposure to healthy eating campaigns | 0.327 *** | 0.309 *** | 0.178 *** | 0.131 † | 42.4% |
Mediator: Nutrition literacy | 0.403 *** | (0.081~0.192) | |||
ΔR2 (ΔF) | 0.140 (71.43 ***) |
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Lai, I.-J.; Chang, L.-C.; Lee, C.-K.; Liao, L.-L. Nutrition Literacy Mediates the Relationships between Multi-Level Factors and College Students’ Healthy Eating Behavior: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study. Nutrients 2021, 13, 3451. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13103451
Lai I-J, Chang L-C, Lee C-K, Liao L-L. Nutrition Literacy Mediates the Relationships between Multi-Level Factors and College Students’ Healthy Eating Behavior: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study. Nutrients. 2021; 13(10):3451. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13103451
Chicago/Turabian StyleLai, I-Ju, Li-Chun Chang, Chia-Kuei Lee, and Li-Ling Liao. 2021. "Nutrition Literacy Mediates the Relationships between Multi-Level Factors and College Students’ Healthy Eating Behavior: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study" Nutrients 13, no. 10: 3451. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13103451
APA StyleLai, I. -J., Chang, L. -C., Lee, C. -K., & Liao, L. -L. (2021). Nutrition Literacy Mediates the Relationships between Multi-Level Factors and College Students’ Healthy Eating Behavior: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study. Nutrients, 13(10), 3451. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13103451