{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T22:15:11Z","timestamp":1791929711082,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Nutrition literacy is considered an important determinant of healthy eating and health-promoting behaviors. This study aimed to examine the association between nutrition literacy and health-promoting lifestyle behaviors in university students.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This cross-sectional study was conducted among university students aged 18\u201325 years at Gaziantep University, T\u00fcrkiye. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire that included sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, the Evaluation Instrument of Nutrition Literacy on Adults (EINLA), and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The final analysis included 400 university students. The mean age of the participants was 19.9 \u00b1 1.7 years, and 88.0% were female. The mean total EINLA score was 27.90 \u00b1 3.40, and the mean total HPLP-II score was 128.44 \u00b1 19.01. Comparisons across nutrition literacy tertiles showed no statistically significant differences in total HPLP-II scores (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.308). In multivariable linear regression analyses, total EINLA score was not significantly associated with either total HPLP-II score (\u03b2 = \u22120.003,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.949) or the HPLP-II nutrition subscale score (\u03b2 = \u22120.083,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.086). In the generalized additive model, however, the smooth term for EINLA showed a nonlinear association with the HPLP-II Nutrition subscale (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.006). Regular physical activity and consuming \u22653 main meals per day were positively associated with both total HPLP-II score and the nutrition subscale score (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.05 for all). In addition, students in the Natural Sciences had significantly lower total HPLP-II and nutrition subscale scores than those in the Health Sciences.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this sample of university students, nutrition literacy was not independently associated with overall health-promoting lifestyle behaviors after adjustment for covariates. Regular physical activity, main meal frequency, and academic department were associated with HPLP-II scores. These findings suggest that lifestyle behaviors in young adults should be interpreted in relation to both literacy-related and behavioral factors. Future studies may build on these findings by incorporating validated measures of digital food literacy and sustainable eating behaviors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1863441","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T05:47:38Z","timestamp":1783403258000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Nutrition literacy and health-promoting lifestyle behaviors among university students: a cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Serap","family":"Balaban-Barta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gaziantep University","place":["Gaziantep, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emre","family":"Duman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Siirt University","place":["Siirt, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"228","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18020228","article-title":"Understanding food choices among university students: dietary identity, decision-making motives, and contextual influences","volume":"18","author":"Aboueldahab","year":"2026","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0954422424000088","article-title":"Addressing nutritional issues and eating behaviours among university students: a narrative review","author":"Almoraie","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nutrition Research Reviews"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e39691","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000039691","article-title":"Modeling the effects of health-related habits and lifestyle on the general health of university students","volume":"103","author":"Ezepue","year":"2024","journal-title":"Medicine"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2085","DOI":"10.1017\/S1368980020002311","article-title":"Association between health literacy and dietary intake of sugar, fat and salt: a systematic review","volume":"24","author":"Buja","year":"2021","journal-title":"Public Health Nutr"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"378","DOI":"10.1093\/heapro\/daw084","article-title":"Just a Subtle Difference? 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