Comparative determination of factors affecting attitude level towards healthy nutrition

Healthy eating habits are critical to the health and well-being of future generations. Many people worldwide do not receive enough vitamins and minerals due to malnutrition To eliminate these, it is necessary to determine the factors that support people's healthy eating habits. This study was conducted to determine the factors that affect healthy eating habits. There are three external factors to the study: (1) being an expert in food and drink, (2) having received formal education in health, and (3) receiving professional support (dietician support) in nutrition. The level of healthy eating was evaluated based on nutritional knowledge, feelings about nutrition, positive eating habits, and poor eating habits. In this context, an online survey was applied to 425 employees in the health sector (202 people) and the food and beverage sector (223 people). The data obtained were analyzed comparatively. The study results showed that the level of nutritional knowledge was equal in both groups. However, it was concluded that food and beverage sector employees were more sensitive to feelings about nutrition, positive eating, and poor eating habits than healthcare sector employees. While food and beverage sector employees are expected to constantly deal with food, which causes desensitization, it has been observed that they are stable and resistant to healthy eating. It has been concluded that although they have not received any formal health training, the information they have obtained through professional support (dietician) accelerates the process of developing healthy eating behaviors. This result has strengthened the power of the education variable affecting healthy nutrition. In addition, sensitivity to healthy nutrition is catalyzed by the professional profession. Dietician support indirectly reinforces this attitude. Thus, it has contributed to the development of healthy nutrition literature.