KNOWING IS NOT DOING: NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE, EATING BEHAVIOUR, AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Amaliah Amriani Amran Saru (Universitas Negeri Makassar)
Oriny Tri Ananda (Universitas Negeri Makassar)
Dian Aswita (Universitas Negeri Makassar)
Muh. Syaiful Akbar (Universitas Negeri Makassar)
Erona Wafaretta (Universitas Negeri Makassar)

SciencePlus
Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026): SciencePlus

Pre-service biology teachers are expected to deliver nutrition education in schools, yet it remains unclear whether the nutrition knowledge they acquire during their studies is reflected in their own eating behaviour and nutritional status. This study aimed to examine the association of nutrition knowledge with eating behaviour and nutritional status among university students and to explore which eating behaviours are most closely related to knowledge. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 87 third-semester biology education students at a public university in Makassar, Indonesia. Nutrition knowledge was measured with a written test administered at the end of a nutrition and health course, eating behaviour with a ten-item questionnaire based on the Indonesian balanced nutrition guidelines, and nutritional status with body mass index. Data were analysed using rank correlation and exact tests. Two thirds of the students had good nutrition knowledge, yet the mean eating behaviour score was only 39.8 out of 100, none showed good eating behaviour, 87.4% rated their own diet as unbalanced, and 46.0% were underweight. Knowledge was associated neither with overall eating behaviour nor with body mass index. In exploratory analysis, the proportion of students consuming sugar-sweetened beverages every day fell from 83.3% among those with poor knowledge to 31.0% among those with good knowledge. These findings indicate that knowing does not translate into doing, and that nutrition courses for future teachers should move beyond conceptual mastery towards practice-based learning, beginning with simple behaviours such as reducing sweetened drinks.