Assessment of the General Nutrition Knowledge of Students from the University of Novi Sad (Vojvodina, Serbia)

Background: Healthy nutrition is necessary for a good quality of life and reduction in the risk of developing diseases. Research indicates that students do not usually have healthy eating habits. Knowledge about nutrition, dietary guidelines, food groups and the nutrients they contain, the selection and adequate preparation of food, and the health consequences of unhealthy nutrition can influence the eating habits of students. Until recently, no research had been conducted on university-level students’ nutrition knowledge in Serbia. The aim of this study was to determine the nutrition knowledge of students from the University of Novi Sad (Vojvodina, Serbia) in relation to gender, year of study, academic field of study, and nutritional status. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the period from December 2021 to July 2022, on 898 students (72.9% female and 27.1% male, with an average age of 22.87 ± 3.092). An online survey questionnaire was used as the research instrument. An assessment of nutrition knowledge was performed using the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ) for the following domains: dietary recommendations; food groups and the nutrients they contain; healthy food choices; and diet, disease and weight associations. Results: Significant differences in students’ assessed knowledge levels were determined across various domains of healthy nutrition. The highest level of nutrition knowledge was in healthy food choices, and the lowest was in understanding food groups and nutrient composition. The total determined knowledge about healthy nutrition correlated most with self-assessed knowledge of food groups, and least with knowledge of dietary recommendations. Female gender and higher years of study were associated with higher nutrition knowledge. Students from the Faculty of Medicine had the highest nutrition knowledge, followed by students from the Faculty of Technology and the Faculty of Science, compared to students from other faculties. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need for targeted interventions aimed at improving students’ understanding of specific nutritional concepts, ultimately empowering them to make informed dietary decisions for lifelong health and wellbeing.