Education Regarding and Adherence to Recommended Nutrition Guidelines among Dental Students

Abstract

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) were developed to reduce or prevent many types of chronic illness, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Healthcare provider recommendations may be influenced by understanding of and adherence to the DGA, which may be incorporated into provider training, medical and dental clinical curricula-although few studies have evaluated adherence to the DGA among dental students. This approved retrospective study of voluntary student responses from a first-year dental school nutrition course included a short dietary and exercise survey administered as part of the DGA learning module. A total of N = 299 students completed the voluntary nutrition survey, yielding a response rate of 91.4%. Daily fruit and vegetable intake, dairy and whole grain servings among UNLV-SDM students were significantly lower than the DGA recommendations but higher than U.S. averages for 18-30-year-olds-although neither group met DGA recommendations. This study represents one of the first to evaluate the dietary intake of U.S. dental students for comparison with the DGA for positive health behaviors. These data demonstrate a lack of adherence to the DGA among highly educated dental students and the need for the curricular inclusion of diet and nutrition into the dental school curriculum.

Keywords: Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA); dental student; diet; education.

Figure 1

DGA fruit consumption analysis. Analysis of UNLV-SDM dental students’ fruit consumption among females and males, which was significantly higher than the U.S. population in general and young adults (18 to 30-year olds), more specifically, p = 0.031, but no significant differences were found between males and females, p = 0.899, and did not meet the DGA recommendations.

Figure 2

DGA vegetable consumption analysis. Analysis of UNLV-SDM dental students revealed significant differences, with consumption among females significantly higher than males, p = 0.022—although this was lower than the U.S. population in general and 18 to 30-year-olds, more specifically, p = 0.018, and did not meet the DGA recommendations.

Figure 3

DGA dairy consumption analysis. UNLV-SDM dental student females consumed significantly less than males, p = 0.0014—although this was higher than observed among 18 to 30-year-olds, p = 0.0388, but still did not meet the DGA recommendations.

Figure 4

DGA whole grain consumption analysis. UNLV-SDM dental student females consumed nearly the same amount as males, p = 0.3687—although this was lower than observed among young adults between 18 and 30 years old, p = 0.0026, and did not meet the DGA recommendations.