Abstract:

Sustainability is a term that is at the center of the relationship between nutrition and the environment through more efficient use of the limited environmental resources we live in. Nutritional sustainability and environmental changes are interrelated. Food production, processing, distribution and consumption stages have impacts on health and the environment due to land use, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Food and Agriculture Organization defines sustainable nutrition as "Sustainable diets are diets with low environmental impacts that contribute to food and nutrition security for a healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically viable and affordable, nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy, and make the best use of natural and human resources."
Adequate and balanced nutrition is the basis of human health in every period of life. In addition to being one of the periods in which good and bad habits are formed, youth is one of the groups in which unbalanced and malnutrition is most common. Therefore, the mistakes made in this period regarding nutrition and the wrong habits acquired during this period reduce the level of health and productivity of young people and negatively affect the health and productivity in the following years.
As a result of the increase in the level of knowledge of individuals about sustainability, it is thought that the behavior of paying attention to sustainable nutrition will increase. The individual dietary habits of university students, who are the consumers and decision makers of the future, supporting sustainability can have a positive impact on their personal and social environment and actively contribute to the sustainable development of the nutrition system.
The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes and perceptions of university students studying in Istanbul towards sustainable nutrition. In this cross-sectional study, 2550 students (1400 females, 1150 males), aged between 18 and 42 years, who continued their undergraduate education between February 2022 and May 2022, participated. Students' general information, behaviors and knowledge levels about sustainable nutrition were collected by online survey method. It was determined that 25.8% of the students had heard of the concept of sustainable nutrition before. The mean sustainable nutrition behavior score was 62.7 ± 10.5 (max: 95) and the mean sustainable nutrition knowledge score was 71.4 ± 11.2 (max: 105). Sustainable nutrition behavior score was found to be significantly higher in females than in males (p=0.000), but no significant difference was found between the department, grade level (p=0.310) and income level (p=0.279). It was found that students' sustainable nutrition behaviors and knowledge levels affected their food choices.

Keywords:

University Students, Sustainable Nutrition, Statistical Analysis.