Associations between nutrition knowledge and obesity-related attitudes and physical activity among young adults from Kenya, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorNorris, Shane A.
dc.contributor.authorDlamini, Siphiwe N.
dc.contributor.authorMtintsilana, Asanda
dc.contributor.authorMapanga, Witness
dc.contributor.authorCraig, Ashleigh
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-28T08:54:23Z
dc.date.available2024-08-28T08:54:23Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractThis study’s aim was to test associations between nutrition knowledge and obesity-related attitudes and physical activity (PA) among 3000 18–35-year-old men and women from Kenya, South Africa (SA), and the United Kingdom (UK).Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in April 2022. To estimate nutrition knowledge, dietary recommendation knowledge score was computed using the standard General Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire. Obesity-related attitudes were from the British Social Attitudes Survey. Self-reported days of vigorous and moderate PAs and walking were used. Ordinal logistic regression was employed to test all associations, while adjusting for age group, gender and a household asset score. Using simple mediation, testing was also done to ascertain whether obesity-related attitudes mediated associations between nutrition knowledge and PA. Results: Consistently, better nutrition knowledge was associated with disagreeing that ‘There is no reason to worry about obesity’ (ORs ≥ 1.09), but lower odds of being against ‘Providing free weight management courses’ and ‘Creating/improving cycle paths and pavements to encourage PA’ (ORs ≤ 0.90). Better nutrition knowledge was also associated with higher vigorous PA in SA (OR = 1.09), and moderate PA (OR = 1.04) and walking (OR = 1.12) in the UK. In the combined sample, associations of nutrition knowledge with vigorous PA were fully mediated by believing that ‘Obesity results from not exercising enough’ (11.1% mediated). Likewise, associations of nutrition knowledge with moderate PA were fully mediated by attitude towards ‘Creating or improving cycle paths and pavements to encourage PA’ in the UK (38.9% mediated).Conclusions: Nutrition knowledge is associated with obesity-related attitudes and PA among young adults, but some relationships are country-specific. Interventions based on findings from high-income countries should be evaluated before being implemented in low-resource settings.
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Research Foundation (NRF).
dc.description.submitterPM2024
dc.facultyFaculty of Health Sciences
dc.identifier.citationSiphiwe N Dlamini, Asanda Mtintsilana, Witness Mapanga, Ashleigh Craig & Shane A Norris (2024) Associations between nutrition knowledge and obesity-related attitudes and physical activity among young adults from Kenya, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 37:1, 9-22, DOI: 10.1080/16070658.2023.2198844
dc.identifier.issn1607-0658 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2221-1268 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1080/16070658.2023.2198844
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/40360
dc.journal.titleSouth African Journal of Clinical Nutrition
dc.language.isoen
dc.orcid.id0000-0001-7124-3788
dc.publisherNational Inquiry Services Centre (NISC) & Taylor and Francis Group
dc.rights© 2023 The Author(s). Co-published by NISC Pty (Ltd) and Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
dc.schoolSchool of Clinical Medicine
dc.subjectNutrition knowledge
dc.subjectObesity attitudes
dc.subjectPhysical activity
dc.subjectMulti-country
dc.subjectYoung adults
dc.subjectSouth Africa
dc.subjectKenya
dc.subjectUnited Kingdom
dc.subject.otherSDG-3: Good health and well-being
dc.titleAssociations between nutrition knowledge and obesity-related attitudes and physical activity among young adults from Kenya, South Africa, and the United Kingdom
dc.typeArticle
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Dlamini_Associations_2023.pdf
Size:
1.21 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.43 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
School of Clinical Medicine (Journal Articles)