UNASSIGNED: Although social capital has been linked to dietary intake particularly in disadvantaged populations, little is known about the mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate whether social support (SS) and nutrition knowledge (NK) mediate the association between social capital and healthy eating habits.
UNASSIGNED: A probability sample of two ethnic minority groups in Yunnan Province, Southwest China were included (n = 1,033, mean age 47.5 ± 14.7 years). Bonding and bridging social capital (BOC and BRC) were assessed with the Personal Social Capital Scale (PSCS-16). Dietary data were evaluated with the Chinese Healthy Eating Index (CHEI), a measure of diet quality which reflects adherence to the Chinese Dietary Guidelines. NK and SS were measured with a validated questionnaire and scale, respectively. Structural Equation Modeling was used to calculate the direct, indirect and total effects of social capital on CHEI scores.
UNASSIGNED: The mean score of CHEI was 57.4 ± 9.8, which was significantly lower in men and older people. Low adherence to dietary guidelines were to observed in the consumption of dairy, beans, nuts, animal-source food vegetables and fruits. BOC and BRC were positively associated with CHEI score (β = 0.37 and 0.38, all p < 0.05). Social support and nutrition knowledge mediated 45.9 and 39.5% of the total effect of social capital on CHEI score, respectively.
UNASSIGNED: Social capital appears to enhance adherence to dietary guidelines by improving nutrition knowledge and social support. Nutrition promotion programs therefore should consider incorporating strategies that foster social capital development, particularly in disadvantaged populations.

There is a noticeable absence of health education among college students. This study aimed to evaluate the extent of general nutrition knowledge among Chinese university students and explore its association with eating attitudes. Data were collected from a group of 273 students in Spring of 2023, using a valid and reliable research instrument consisting of three sections: demographic variables, the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ), and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). The results were analyzed using SPSS, with correlations and t-tests to examine the relationships between nutritional knowledge and dietary attitudes. Furthermore, the present study employed the random forest (RF) algorithm, a machine learning technique, utilizing the Mean Decrease Impurity (MDI) method to investigate the influence of various features on participants\' eating attitudes. The findings revealed that Chinese university students had an average accuracy of over 60% in their nutritional knowledge, but their understanding of the relationship between diet and disease still needs improvement. Moreover, male students had significantly lower nutritional knowledge than female students, and there was a positive correlation between nutritional knowledge and parents\' income. The study also found a significant correlation between the level of nutritional knowledge and eating attitudes. RF results indicated that the family income level exhibited the most substantial impact on the eating attitudes of the participants. The study highlights the need for nutrition education curriculum developers to focus more on improving students\' nutritional knowledge, with particular attention given to male students, low-income individuals, and those with an abnormal BMI.

Dietary behavior is a pivotal modifiable determinant in reducing the occurrence of obesity/overweight and chronic non-communicable diseases. Improving the dietary behavior of rural residents in China is imminent due to the poor performance of their dietary behavior. Nutrition knowledge and health literacy are considered as elements that are linked intimately to healthy dietary behaviors but lack research in the Chinese setting.
The study is designed to explore the relationship between nutritional knowledge, health literacy and dietary behaviors and to analyze the performance under different demographic characteristics.
A face-to-face survey of 400 rural residents on their nutrition knowledge, functional health literacy and dietary intake of five food categories consisting of 32 items was conducted based on a validated questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, difference test including ANOVA, t-test and non-parametric test, and multivariate linear regression were used for data analysis.
The results indicate that declarative nutrition knowledge, individuals\' information application capacity, and dietary behaviors, especially the intake of fruits, dairy and beans, and vegetable are not ideal and requires improvement. Male, elder, low-income, unmarried, and low-education populations performed significantly worse and were the high-risk group. Procedural nutrition knowledge, information access capacity, information understanding capacity, and information application capacity have remarkable effects on better dietary behavior.
This study provides evidence-based guidance for prioritizing information and populations for healthy dietary interventions.

Parent\'s nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and dietary practices (KAP) play imperative roles in preventing malnutrition for themselves and their children. Our study aimed to determine the status and contributing factors of nutrition KAP among parents of children and adolescents. A total of 1746 parents (mean age 39.67 ± 5.38 years, females accounting for 69.82%) of primary and junior high school students in Weifang, China, completed a self-reported KAP questionnaire in August 2021. An analysis of Pearson product-moment correlation was conducted to determine the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Chi-square test, followed by a multivariable robust Poisson regression analysis, was performed to identify the contributing factors to parents\' KAP. A 65.94% awareness rate of nutritional knowledge was observed. The correlations between nutrition knowledge and attitudes (r = 0.03, P = 0.23), knowledge and practices (r = 0.02, P = 0.34), and attitudes and practices (r = 0.16, P < 0.01) were relatively weak. After adjusting for other contributing factors, females [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.13-1.45], participants with secondary education (PR = 4.64, 95% CI = 1.60-13.50), junior college education (PR = 5.87, 95% CI = 2.01-17.13) and college degree or above education (PR = 6.58, 95% CI = 2.25-19.23) acquired higher nutrition knowledge scores. Moreover, healthy diet behaviors were more commonly implemented by females than males (PR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.14-1.76), and which needed to be improved in those with abnormal body mass indexes (BMIs) [overweight (PR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.74-0.99) and obese (PR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.56-0.99)]. It was necessary for nutrition KAP promotion to be emphasized in nutritional knowledge and dietary practices, as well as health behavior guidance, especially for parents with low education and elevated BMIs.

Nutrition is an integral component in the management of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and kidney health professionals play a crucial role in educating patients on dietary interventions for CKD. Several dietary modifications are indicated for CKD that require frequent adaptations with CKD progression and with underlying metabolic disturbances. However, poor adherence to dietary interventions is not uncommon among patients with CKD. An effective education program on nutrition intervention consists of providing knowledge and developing skills that are necessary to support behavioral change. The application of theoretical models of behavioral change such as social cognitive theory and the transtheoretical model in nutrition intervention has been reported to be effective in promoting changes in dietary habits. This review summarizes the evidence supporting the application of theoretical models as strategies to enhance nutrition education for patients with CKD. In addition, digital technologies are gaining interest in empowering patients and facilitating nutrition management in patients with CKD. This review also examines the applications of the latest digital technologies guided by behavioral theory in facilitating patients\' changes in dietary intake patterns and lifestyle habits.

Women aged 18-49 years are women of childbearing age. Their nutrition knowledge (NK) is not only related to their physical health but also affects the diet quality of the entire family and the health status of the next generation. Studies that assess the NK level of women of childbearing age using representative data in China are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the NK level of Chinese women aged 18-49 years and explore influencing factors at both the individual and provincial levels. Data were from the Chinese Nutrition and Health Knowledge Survey 2021. A total of 38,065 females aged 18-49 years were included in the analysis. A face-to-face validated standard questionnaire was used to collect NK from respondents. The full score of the questionnaire was 100. Respondents who scored higher than 75 were considered to have NK. The Rao-Scott chi-square test was used to compare the differences in the NK awareness rate between or among the subgroups. A multilevel logistic regression model was used to explore influencing factors at the individual and provincial levels. All analyses accounted for complex sample design including clustering, stratification, and sample weights. The mean score of NK among Chinese women aged 18-49 years was 65.1 ± 11.8, and the awareness rate was 20.9% (95% CI: 19.6-22.3%). Among the five dimensions, the awareness rate of food safety was the highest (74.0%, 95% CI: 72.8-75.3%), and the dietary recommendation was the lowest (16.4%, 95% CI: 15.3-17.5%). The two-level logistic regression model analysis revealed that at the individual level, age, education level, occupation, chronic disease status and residence were the main influencing factors of the NK level. At the provincial level, the region and the female illiteracy rate were associated with the NK level. Dependent children ratio, per capita income, and health expenditure were not significantly associated with the NK level. The model accounted for 58.8% of the variance in the NK level. The NK level of Chinese women aged 18-49 years was low. Knowledge of dietary recommendations was weakest. Both individual and provincial-level factors were associated with the NK level. There is an urgent need to strengthen nutrition education actions for enhancing the NK of reproductive-age women effectively to improve their dietary behaviors.

The nutritional status of rural Chinese children has improved in recent years, but their nutritional knowledge is still relatively lacking. School-based nutrition and health education was conducted for children in three counties of China from 2018 to 2020. The students in the intervention schools were given two-year nutrition and health education courses, while the control schools did not receive any intervention. Students’ nutrition knowledge, dietary intake, and dietary behaviors were collected using a questionnaire, and height and weight were measured uniformly. The nutrition knowledge score in the intervention group was increased by 1.01 and 0.64 points in the first and second years. A multilevel model was used to evaluate the intervention effects. Statistically significant interactions between groups and time were observed in nutrition knowledge, the frequency of eating breakfast, and dietary intake, including meat, eggs, milk, and vegetables (p < 0.05), but not in nutritional status. Therefore, the supplementation of school-based nutrition and health education had a positive impact on the nutrition knowledge and dietary intake of rural Chinese children.

Since 2013, China has implemented a nutrition label regulation that aims to provide essential nutrition information through nutrition facts tables labeled on the back of food packages. Yet, the relationship between people\'s nutrition knowledge and their nutrition label use remains less clear. This study adopted the structural equation modeling approach to analyze a nationally representative survey of 1500 Chinese individuals through the cognitive processing model, interrelated nutrition knowledge, attention to nutrition information on the nutrition facts table, comprehension of nutrition information, food choice and dietary intake. It was found that nutrition knowledge positively influenced attention to nutrition information; a better comprehension of nutrition information, which could benefit healthier food choices, did not relate to a higher level of attention to that information; dietary intake was affected significantly by nutrition knowledge, but it had little impact on food choice. The results signify that nutrition knowledge hardly supports nutrition facts table use among the Chinese people, mainly due to incomprehensible labeled information. Therefore, it emphasizes the need to enhance people\'s comprehension through front-of-package labels and corresponding smartphone applications.

Establishing healthy eating habits is considered to be a sustainable strategy for health maintenance, and mobile applications (apps) are expected to be highly effective among the young-aged population for healthy eating promotion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a dietary monitoring app on younger adults\' nutrition knowledge and their dietary habits. A controlled-experimental study was performed with one experimental group having a three-hour nutrition seminar and 12 weeks of dietary monitoring with the app, and one control group receiving a three-hour nutrition seminar. Behavioral feedback delivered by the app was evaluated in facilitating the transfer of nutritional knowledge to nutrition behavior. A total of 305 younger adults aged from 19 to 31 were recruited. Baseline and post-intervention nutrition knowledge and dietary behavior were collected. All mean scores of post-GNKQ-R increased from baseline for both the control and the experimental groups. The mean differences of sugar intake, dietary fiber intake, and vitamin C intake for the experimental group were significantly more than those for the control group (all p < 0.001). In addition, the experimental group increased fruit and vegetable consumption significantly more than the control group (all p < 0.001). For those younger adults with a relatively large body size, they were more likely to increase fruit consumption with the application of dietary monitoring.

To investigate whether an after-school nutrition education (ASNE) programme can improve the nutrition knowledge and healthy eating behaviour of adolescents from economically disadvantaged families.
One-group pretest and posttest design. Nutrition knowledge and dietary intake were collected using a questionnaire, and anthropometric measurements were measured before and after the intervention. Nine components of healthy eating behaviour were assessed with reference to the Dietary Guideline of Taiwan. Pretest and posttest differences were analysed using generalised estimating equations.
Three after-school programmes in central and southern Taiwan. The ASNE programme comprised three monthly 1-h sessions (20-30-min lecture and 30-40-min interaction).
A total of 153 adolescents aged 10-15 years from economically disadvantaged families (seventy-eight elementary students and seventy-five junior high school students).
Elementary and junior high school students\' nutrition knowledge scores (range 0-6) increased by 0·28 (+ 5·7 %, P = 0·02) and 0·30 points (+ 6·18 %, P = 0·02), respectively, but their fruit intake decreased by 0·36 serving/d (-22·9 %, P = 0·02) and 0·29 serving/d (-18·9 %, P = 0·03), respectively. Junior high school students\' mean snacking frequency and fried food intake dropped to 0·75 d/week (-21·3 %, P = 0·008) and 0·10 serving/d (-28·8 %, P = 0·01), respectively.
Short-term ASNE programmes can increase nutrition knowledge and reduce snacking frequency and fried food intake despite a decrease in fruit intake among adolescents from economically disadvantaged families.