The relationship between hedonic hunger deciency and Mediterranean Diet Quality Index in female university students

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between hedonic hunger Deciencies and Mediterranean Diet Quality Index in female students of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Department of Nursing. April February 2023- April 2023, the research was conducted on 176 female students in electronic environment. The Power of Food Scale (PFS) and the Mediterranean Diet Quality (KIDMED) were applied to the participants and survey questions related to the nutritional status of the students were used. The presence of hedonic hunger was detected in %58,5 of the participants. %76.7 of the 103 women with hedonic hunger are Nursing students. According to the PFS score values of the participants, a significant relationship was found between the department they studied (p<0.05). It was found that %55,1 of the women had a KIDMED score between 4-7 points and that their diets needed improvement, while %14,2 had ≥8 points and their adaptation to the Mediterranean diet was at the most appropriate level. There was no significant relationship between the KIDMED scores according to the department where the participants were studying (p>0.05). A weak negative correlation was found between the KIDMED score and the hedonic hunger variable. The Mediterranean Diet is a dietary model that recommends nutrients such as olive oil, olives, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and oil seeds in high amounts of red meat and meat products in low levels. The Mediterranean diet is one of the most researched diets and is associated with many health problems. Large-scale studies are needed to Decipher the mechanisms of the relationship between the Mediterranean diet and hedonic hunger. Dietitians have an important task in raising awareness about this issue. Keywords: Hedonic hunger, mediterranean diet, nutrition