IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i9p3182-d353634.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) towards Diet and Health among International Students in Dublin: A Cross-Sectional Study

Author

Listed:
  • Xiyao Liu

    (Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
    X.L. and H.C. contributed equally to this work.)

  • Haoyue Chen

    (Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
    X.L. and H.C. contributed equally to this work.)

  • Qianling Zhou

    (Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Huifeng Zhang

    (Nutritional Epidemiology Group, School of Food Science & Nutrition, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

  • Phensiri Asawasirisap

    (School of Biological Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology, D08 X622 Dublin, Ireland)

  • John Kearney

    (School of Biological Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology, D08 X622 Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

International students may have difficulties in dietary acculturation. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of diet and health during the acculturation of international students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a convenience sample of 473 international students in Dublin. Knowledge, attitude and practices towards diet and health were evaluated by a questionnaire with open- and closed-ended questions. It was found that 45.3% of participants had a broad concept of a healthy diet, while few knew its specific contents. Furthermore, 75.3% of participants could explain the term functional food, and among them, 62.1% knew the appropriate definition of functional food. Participants who perceived their health very good and excellent were more likely to believe that their health status was determined by their own control. The consumption rate of functional food varied among regions and South and Central America students had the highest usage rate (44.5%) and Asian students had the highest daily usage rate (52.7%). Participants who were younger, single, from African and South and Central American countries, or who were in Ireland for less than one year were more likely to report dietary change after immigration. In conclusion, insufficient knowledge and self-perception towards diet and health as well as unhealthily dietary changes exist among international students living in Dublin.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiyao Liu & Haoyue Chen & Qianling Zhou & Huifeng Zhang & Phensiri Asawasirisap & John Kearney, 2020. "Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) towards Diet and Health among International Students in Dublin: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-13, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:9:p:3182-:d:353634
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/3182/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/3182/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roger King, 2009. "Governing Universities Globally," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13016.
    2. JoAnne Labrecque & Maurice Doyon & François Bellavance & Jane Kolodinsky, 2006. "Acceptance of Functional Foods: A Comparison of French, American, and French Canadian Consumers," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 54(4), pages 647-661, December.
    3. Karl Peltzer & Supa Pengpid & Tony K. C. Yung & Hajer Aounallah‐Skhiri & Rehana Rehman, 2016. "Comparison of health risk behavior, awareness, and health benefit beliefs of health science and non‐health science students: An international study," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(2), pages 180-187, June.
    4. Watson, Dorothy & Lunn, Pete & Quinn, Emma & Russell, Helen, 2012. "Multiple Disadvantage in Ireland: An Equality Analysis of Census 2006," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT213.
    5. Zi Yan & Kathleen FitzPatrick, 2016. "Acculturation and health behaviors among international students: A qualitative approach," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 58-63, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ding, Yulian & Veeman, Michele & Adamowicz, Wiktor L., 2013. "Functional Food Choices: Impacts of Trust and Health Beliefs," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149007, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Michał Machul & Monika Bieniak & Justyna Chałdaś-Majdańska & Jadwiga Bąk & Agnieszka Chrzan-Rodak & Paulina Mazurek & Piotr Pawłowski & Daria Makuch-Kuśmierz & Anna Obuchowska & Adrianna Bartoszek & K, 2020. "Lifestyle Practices, Satisfaction with Life and the Level of Perceived Stress of Polish and Foreign Medical Students Studying in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-10, June.
    3. Ramo Barrena & Mercedes Sánchez, 2010. "The link between household structure and the level of abstraction in the purchase decision process: an analysis using a functional food," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 243-264.
    4. Amanda Trevino & Christine Cardinal & Crystal C. Douglas, 2020. "Altered health knowledge and attitudes among health sciences students following media exposure," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(4), pages 967-976, December.
    5. Paula Moutinho & In?s Andrade & Angela Macedo, 2022. "Functional food consumption by Portuguese university community: Knowledge, barriers and motivators," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 24(2), pages 1-29.
    6. Mathew T. Baker & Peng Lu & Jean A. Parrella & Holli R. Leggette, 2022. "Consumer Acceptance toward Functional Foods: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-40, January.
    7. Elena Castellari & Elena Claire Ricci & Stefanella Stranieri & Stephan S. Marette & Martina Sarnataro & Claudio Soregaroli, 2019. "Relationships Between Health and Environmental Information on the Willingness to Pay for Functional Foods: The Case of a New Aloe Vera Based Product [Impact de l’information sur la santé et l'envir," Post-Print hal-02627431, HAL.
    8. Stavroula Malla & Jill E. Hobbs & Eric K. Sogah, 2016. "Estimating the Potential Benefits of New Health Claims in Canada: The Case of Soluble Fiber and Soy Protein," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 64(2), pages 173-197, June.
    9. Marette, Stéphan & Roosen, Jutta & Blanchemanche, Sandrine & Feinblatt-Mélèze, Eve, 2010. "Functional food, uncertainty and consumers' choices: A lab experiment with enriched yoghurts for lowering cholesterol," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 419-428, October.
    10. Roger King, 2011. "Governing Knowledge Globally: Science, Structuration and the Open Society," Chapters, in: Roger King & Simon Marginson & Rajani Naidoo (ed.), Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Chang, Hung-Hao, 2013. "Functional food consumption and depression among the elderly — What can we learn from a longitudinal survey?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 187-193.
    12. Spencer Henson & Mamane Annou & John Cranfield & Joanne Ryks, 2008. "Understanding Consumer Attitudes Toward Food Technologies in Canada," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1601-1617, December.
    13. Chrysanthi Balomenou & Aniko Kalman & Konstantinos Kolovos, 2014. "Comparative analysis of the implementation of Triple Helix Theory in Greece and Hungary and lessons learned from both cases´," ERSA conference papers ersa14p954, European Regional Science Association.
    14. Haeck, Catherine & Lawson, Nicholas & Poirier, Krystel, 2022. "Estimating consumer preferences for different beverages using the BLP approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    15. Miae Doo & Chunyang Wang, 2022. "Differences in Overweight or Obesity, Changes in Dietary Habits after Studying Abroad and Sleep Quality by Acculturative Degree among Asian Foreign Students: A Cross Sectional Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-9, April.
    16. Moutinho, Paula & Andrade, Inês & Macedo, Angela, 2022. "Functional food consumption by Portuguese university community: Knowledge, barriers and motivators," Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, Italian Society of Agri-food Economics/Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), vol. 24(2), July.
    17. Jaelani, Aan, 2012. "MASA DEPAN IAIN SYEKH NURJATI CIREBON: Strategi Kampus Entrepreuner Berbasis Lokal [THE FUTURE OF IAIN SYEKH NURJATI CIREBON: Locally-Based Entrepreneur Campus Strategy]," MPRA Paper 69530, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Sep 2014.
    18. Simon Marginson, 2011. "Strategizing and Ordering the Global," Chapters, in: Roger King & Simon Marginson & Rajani Naidoo (ed.), Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education, chapter 23, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Bechtold, Kai-Brit & Abdulai, Awudu, 2013. "Combining Likert scale attitudinal statements with choice experiments to analyze pref-erence heterogeneity for functional dairy products," 87th Annual Conference, April 8-10, 2013, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 158851, Agricultural Economics Society.
    20. Simon Marginson, 2011. "Imagining the Global," Chapters, in: Roger King & Simon Marginson & Rajani Naidoo (ed.), Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:9:p:3182-:d:353634. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.