The Relationship Between Nutritional Attitudes and Behaviors and Nutritional Self-Efficacy Levels of School-Age Children with Various Variables: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between nutritional attitudes and behaviors and nutritional self-efficacy levels of school-age children and various variables. Material and Methods: The study was conducted with a total of 400 volunteer students (191 girls, 209 boys) studying in the 4th grade of 4 state primary schools in İstanbul. The Sociodemographic Information Form, Child Health Perception Form, Child Dietary Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSS), Nutrition Attitude Scale (NAS) and Food Behavior Scale were used to collect the research data. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 27.0 statistical package program and p<0.05 values were considered significant. Results: In the study, 47.7% of the participants were girls and 52.3% were boys. The mean age of the students was 9.3±0.8 years, mean body mass index z score for age was 1.45±0.9 and total daily sleep time was 8.34 hours. It was determined that the mean scores of the male students on the CDSS (p=0.003) and NAS (p=0.040) were significantly higher than those of the female students. It was observed that the CDSS scores of the students with excellent health perception were the highest (p=0.003). A positive significant correlation was found between the CDSS and NAS scales (p=0.002). Conclusion: It was concluded that nutritional self-sufficiency and nutritional attitudes are important predictors of health perception. Accordingly, it is thought that interventions aimed at improving nutritional attitudes and behaviors in school children can help protect and improve the health of children and thus, make positive contributions to public health.