Dietary Knowledge, Body Image, and Dietary Practices In 18-20 Year Old Young Women

Abstract

Young women have several methods to maintain their weight including weight loss diet. In this method, they will choose their foods carefully. Dietary knowledge and body image contribute to their dietary practices, especially on weight loss diet. The aim of this research was to analyze the correlation of dietary knowledge and body image as well as dietary practices in 18-20 year old young women. A cross sectional research was performed in 344 young women aged between 18 to 20 years old as the students of Politeknik Negeri Jember, East Java, Indonesia. This study used a probability sampling technique. Questionnaires were used as the instrument to collect the data of dietary knowledge which consisted of 15 questions on the definition, methods, and effects of weight loss diet and of body image which consisted of 10 questions of favorable and unfavorable questions. Subsequently, Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to obtain the data on dietary practices. Collected data were analyzed by using Chi square test with α=0.05. The results indicated that 189 respondents (54.9%) carried out appropriate or healthy dietary practices while as many as 155 respondents (45.1%) had unhealthy ones. In addition, a number of 154 respondents (44.8%) had good dietary knowledge, 154 respondents (44.8%) had sufficient dietary knowledge, and 36 respondents (10.5%) had insufficient dietary knowledge. Regarding with body image, 174 respondents (49.4%) showed positive body image while 170 respondents (50.6%) had negative body image. There was no correlation between dietary knowledge and dietary practice (p = 0.055) and there was significant correlation between body image and dietary practice (p = 0.001). Dietary practices is evidenced to have a correlation with body image, on the contrary, it is insignificantly correlated with dietary knowledge. Young women should perform healthy dietary practices based on their nutrition needs instead of relied solely on the perception of body image.