Research Outputs
A multicenter study evaluating the stages of change in food consumption with warning labels among Chilean university students
Objective. To analyze the stage of change in food consumption with warning labels among Chilean university students. Materials and Methods. Cross-sectional study which applied surveys in universities from all over the country. Study included 4807 participants of 18 to 40 years of both sexes who were asked about the level of knowledge of the new food law and food consumption with warning signals, including questions regarding their willingness to behavior change according to Prochaska’s transtheoretical model. To compare continuous variables, Student’s t-test was used in the statistical package SPSS 22.0, and p <0.05 was considered a signifcant diference. Results. Of the total number of respondents, 99.3% of the students indicated that they know about the food law, classifying foods with signals in the precontemplation stage. Compared by sex, we observed that women give greater importance to behavior change in all of foods (p <0.001). Underweight students give less importance to change in unhealthy foods, while obesity students give more importance but do not show more confdence in behavior change (p <0.05). Conclusion. Te university students show a low importance and confdence to make behavior change, aspects associated with sex and nutritional status. It is necessary to strengthen nutritional food education and not just talk about structural measures.
Stages of change in the purchase of ultra-processed snacks among university students after the implementation of the chilean food law; a multi-center study
The Objective is to determine the stages of change in the behavior of university students regarding the purchase of ultra-processed snacks consumed. Multi-center study (14 Chilean universities). The participants (4,807 students)evaluated were applied a survey to determine the stage of change of behavior regarding the purchase of foods with warning signs. The students were evaluated and classified as (a) Nutrition Students, (b) Healthcare-related Students and (c) Other degree Students. More than 90% of the students were aware of the food regulation and knew the warning signs. More than 60% of Healthcare-related and Other degree students are in the stage of pre-contemplation or contemplation regarding purchase intent of sugary drinks, juices, cookies, sweet snacks and potato chips; this value is twice the percentage of Nutrition students in this stages ( Chi2, p<0.001). In conclusion there is a high proportion of pre-contemplation and contemplation with respect to purchase intent among the students.