Knowledge, Awareness, and Attitudes Toward Functional Foods During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to evaluate university students’ lev-els of knowledge, attitudes, and awareness regarding functional foods during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the relationships among these variables (direct, indirect, and conditional). This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 334 students enrolled in the Faculties of Health Sciences, Medicine, and Dentistry at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. The online questionnaire included sections on demographic characteristics and COVID-19–related questions, as well as scales assessing knowledge and attitudes toward func-tional foods and the frequency of their consumption. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 30.0 and Hayes’ PROCESS macro. The food most fre-quently identified as functional by participants was kefir and probiotic yogurt (73.7%), followed by other probiotic–prebiotic products and fortified foods. The functional food group with the greatest increase in consumption during the pandemic was vitamin- and mineral-fortified products (53%). Students who believed that functional foods have protective effects against COVID-19 or who conducted research on nutrition during the pandemic had significant-ly higher knowledge, awareness, and attitude scores (p < 0.05) (OR = 0.859–0.956). In addition, significant positive correlations were found among these three variables (r = 0.134–0.421). The indirect effect of knowledge on atti-tudes through awareness was not statistically significant. However, knowledge positively predicted both awareness (B = 0.172) and attitudes (B = 0.121) (p < 0.001). The predictive effect of knowledge on awareness was signifi-cant only among students who themselves or whose rela-tives had experienced COVID-19 infection (B = 0.270; p < 0.001). In conclusion, knowledge, awareness, and atti-tudes toward functional foods are positively related, and this relationship is influenced by gender, source of infor-mation, beliefs regarding functional foods, nutrition edu-cation, and COVID-19 experience.