Title:

Eating Competence and Diet Quality: Combatting an Obesogenic Food Environment with Healthy Psychosocial Food Relationships

Title: Eating Competence and Diet Quality: Combatting an Obesogenic Food Environment with Healthy Psychosocial Food Relationships Background: The university environment often fosters an obesogenic food environment and may contribute to unhealthy weight gain, obesity, and comorbidities. The young adult years spent within this environment may be critical in adopting or resisting healthy behaviors that carry on throughout adulthood. The measurement of eating competence (EC) may be a useful way to quantify dietary behaviors and attitudes. Objective: To characterize the relationship between diet quality (DQ) and EC in on-campus college students, ages 18-24 years. Study Design, Settings, Participants: Data were collected from an on-going, cross-sectional study at a northeastern, public university between 2015-2023. Self-reported measures were recorded via online survey. Dietary intake were assessed from three-day food records analyzed through an online nutrient analysis software. Measurable Outcome/Analysis: EC (0-48) was evaluated using the 16-item esCI2.0 with each individual item scored 0-3; a sum of scores ≥32 was classified as eating competent. EC subscores include the categories: Contextual Skills, Eating Attitude, Food Acceptance, and Internal Regulation. DQ was measured via modified HEI scores (mHEI); scores ranged from 0-100 and were calculated from the sum of 9 dietary subscores. Statistical analysis completed with SPSS using a partial correlation and ANOVA. Gender and BMI served as covariates. Results: After excluding participants with missing data or reported as living off-campus, most participants (n=2741) were female (67.2%) and were first year students (57.5%); the mean age of participants was 18.7±0.9 years and had a mean BMI of 23.4±3.7 kg/m2. Mean EC score was 33.0±9.1, with 57.8% reporting a score of ≥32. The mean mHEI score was 64.1±12.5. EC and mHEI scores were positively but weakly correlated (r=.108, p<.001). mHEI was modestly higher among EC vs. non-EC students (65.2±.4 vs 62.8±.3, p<.001). Conclusion: A modest positive relationship between EC and DQ was observed in this sample of northeast college students. Tailored nutrition education aiming to increase overall EC may support improved diet quality among young adults and decrease long-term adverse health outcomes. Funding Statement: Funded by New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Project 1010738, and the state of New Hampshire.

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