Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Palatable Western-style Cafeteria Diet as a Reliable Method for Modeling Diet-induced Obesity in Rodents
Published on: November 1, 2019
Impact of nutrition education on university students' fat consumption
Teri E Emrich1, M J Patricia Mazier
1Department of Human Nutrition, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada.
Purpose:
University science students who have taken a nutrition course possess greater knowledge of fats than do those who have not; whether students apply this knowledge to their diet is unknown. We measured and compared science students' total and saturated fat intake in the first and fourth years, and evaluated whether taking a nutrition course influenced fat consumption.
Methods:
A sample of 269 first- and fourth-year science students at a small undergraduate university completed a survey with both demographic questions and a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire about fats in the diet. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests and independent-sample t-tests.
Results:
Fourth-year science students consumed fewer grams of total and saturated fat than did first-year science students (p<0.001). Science students who had taken a nutrition course consumed fewer grams of total and saturated fat than did those who had not (p<0.001).
Conclusions:
Taking a nutrition course may decrease first-year students' fat consumption, which may improve diet quality and decrease the risk of chronic disease related to fat consumption.
Related Concept Videos
Factors affecting Blood pressure
Physiological Factors:
Pharmacokinetics in Obese Patients: Drug Absorption and Distribution
Fats as Energy Storage Molecules
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques IV
Atherosclerosis III: Management
Overview of Fatty Acid Metabolism
Fatty acids are catabolized in a process called beta-oxidation, which takes place in the matrix of the mitochondria and converts their fatty acid chains into two-carbon units of acetyl groups. The acetyl...

