Abstract:

Aim: Environmental sustainability and human health are closely related and have been reported to be linked to sustainable eating habits and physical activity. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of university students' food consumption status and physical activity levels on sustainable and healthy eating behaviors. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 394 students, 125 male and 169 female, studying at Ondokuz Mayıs University. The Sustainable and Healthy Eating Behavior Scale was used to evaluate the sustainable eating habits of the students, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) was used to determine the physical activity level, and the 24-hour dietary recall was used to determine the food consumption. Results: 43.8% of male students participating in the study were moderately active, and 46.6% of female students were inactive. The relationship between moderate physical activity score and "Low fat consumption"(p=0.011) score, and the relationship between walking time and "Healthy and balanced diet"(p=0.026) score were significant. A positive correlation was found between the students' IPAQ-SF score and the scores of "Healthy and balanced diet"(p=0.022), "Local food"(p=0.020) and "Animal health"(p=0.041). It was found that the percentage of energy provided from carbohydrates (p=0.878), fat (p=0.596), protein (p=0.842), fiber intake (p=0.818) and body mass index (p=0.292) weren’t determinative on “sustainable and healthy eating behavior”. Conclusion: It has been determined that physical activity can be effective on sustainable and healthy eating behaviors. Increasing awareness of physical activity on health and sustainability is of importance for public health.

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