マレーシア大学生における砂糖摂取に関する食教育の検討

抄録

This study examined the current frequency of teatime snack and beverage consumption and dietary behaviors among Malaysian university students to develop an effective method for delivering nutritional education workshops aimed at preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Surveys on dietary habits and teatime snack and beverage consumption were administered to 208 students at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional.

The survey on dietary habits revealed that the subjects had a good understanding of the association between exercise and health as well as the importance of diet. However, they had a poor understanding of sugar intake, and reported that they thought it was not easy to select beverages that contain less sugar and to be careful of excessive sugar intake.

The survey on teatime snack and beverage consumption demonstrated a high frequency of water intake among the subjects. The frequency of the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) that contain sugar or condensed milk, such as tea (with condensed milk or sugar) and Milo, was also high. In contrast, the intake of unsweetened beverages such as tea (without sugar), coffee (without sugar), green tea (without sugar), and Chinese tea (without sugar) was less frequent. The findings suggest that to prevent NCDs, effective nutritional education workshops for Malaysian university students should focus on the basic knowledge of sugar and beverages, include visual aids and tasting activities that help understand level of sugar content and the amount of sugar contained in beverages, and include activities that enhance the “perceived behavioral control”. We aim to focus on resolving these challenges in future interventional nutrition education workshops targeting Malay university students.