Introduction:

The Mediterranean diet (MD) is recognized as a sustainable and healthy dietary pattern, however, the adherence of university students to its recommendations is low. Nutrition labelling is a strategy to promote healthy alimentary choices. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the association between the use of nutritional labelling, adherence to the MD the nutritional status determined through the perception of body image in Chilean university students.

Methodology:

A cross-sectional study was carried out in which 286 students between 18 and 29 years old participated, enrolled in a public university in Valparaíso, Chile. The adherence to the MD was determined by the KIDMED Test. The frequency of use of nutrition labelling was consulted through three questions: Do you check the number of “High in” labels on packaged foods before you buy them? Do you buy packaged foods with fewer “High in” labels to ensure a healthy choice? Do you read the nutrition labelling of packaged foods with “High in” labels before you buy them? In addition, the nutritional status was determined by the perception of body image. The application of the questionnaires was online. Logistic regression models were realized to evaluate the association between the variables.

Results:

About 55% reported a frequent use of nutrition labelling and 26.2% a high adherence to the MD and 51.4% had excess body weight (EBW). The students who frequently buy packaged foods with less “High in” labels and read the nutrition labelling before buy packaged foods had more likely of report a high adherence to the MD (OR: 2.39; 95%IC: 1.17-4.85 y OR: 2.38; 95%IC: 1.20-4.73 respectively) than those infrequent users of nutrition labelling (p<0.01).

Conclusions:

University students who frequently used nutrition labelling had a greater adherence to the MD compared to those infrequent users.

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