The Relationship between the Knowledge, Attitude, Practises Related to Vitamin D, Sun Exposure Behaviour and Dietary Intake among University Students in TARUMT

Low, Xin Wei (2024) The Relationship between the Knowledge, Attitude, Practises Related to Vitamin D, Sun Exposure Behaviour and Dietary Intake among University Students in TARUMT. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

Vitamin D is an essential micronutrient. The knowledge, attitude and practice related to vitamin D, sunlight exposure and dietary choices impact its levels. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship of the knowledge, attitude and practice related to vitamin D, sun exposure behavior and dietary vitamin D intake among university students in TARUMT. This cross-sectional study was carried out among 113 participants who were selected by convenience sampling. Data collection consisted of socio demographics, knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) related to vitamin D, sun exposure and food frequency questionnaire for vitamin D intake. Majority of the participants had poor knowledge (60.2%), moderate attitude (89.4%) and poor practice (71.1%) related to vitamin D. Average of them having adequate sun exposure (201.1 ± 272.9). The average total dietary vitamin D intake of them was 6.0 ± 5.1μg/day and only 7.1% of them met the RNI (2017) of vitamin D intake. There is no statistical significant association between gender, ethnicity, education level, field of study with dietary vitamin D intake. No statistically significant difference of the mean age, KAP score, sun exposure and sun protection score between the <15μg/day and ≥15μg/day of the dietary vitamin D intake. Only knowledge was significantly correlated with attitude (r = 0.201, P = 0.033) and practice was significantly correlated with sun exposure (r = 0.225, P = 0.016). In conclusion, these results suggest that TARUMT students generally have poor knowledge, moderate attitude, poor practice, adequate sun exposure and low dietary vitamin D intake. Health promotion campaigns needed to boost the KAP for vitamin D, encouraging appropriate sun exposure practices and eating habits. Future studies can include the determination of the vitamin D level in the body. More large prospective studies should be conducted to explore vitamin D status among the general population as well as the targeted population