The investigation of hedonic hunger and nutrition knowledge in adults working desktop and having different body mass index

Satıroğlu Y. (2024). The Investigation of Hedonic Hunger and Nutrition Knowledge in Adults Working Desktop and Having Different Body Mass Index. Master's, İstanbul Atlas University Postgraduate Education Institute, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, İstanbul. The aim of this research is to examine the hedonic hunger levels and nutritional knowledge levels of adults who work desk jobs and have different body mass indexes (BMI). Hedonic hunger refers to individuals' intense desire to consume foods and the feeling of pleasure they experience while consuming them. Nowadays, with the increasing technology, many operations are offered to people with the comfort of being able to perform them from a sitting position without any physical effort. Considering the effect of hedonic hunger on BMI values, it should be remembered that it is a factor that should be taken into consideration for people who work at a desk, need a diet, or for the acquisition of a healthy diet. 156 adults working at a desk in a private institution were included in the study. Participants completed relevant surveys based on their voluntary statements. The sociodemographic characteristics, hedonic hunger levels, nutritional knowledge levels and food consumption characteristics of the participants were measured in the surveys. When looking at the general findings, according to the t test comparison for independent samples, the participants' hedonic hunger scores are statistically significantly higher in single individuals compared to married individuals (T151 = 2460, p = 0.015). while BMI values do not differ statistically significantly according to marital status ( p> .05). Another result of the study was that there was no significant difference between the groups in hedonic hunger scores when compared according to smoking status (p> .05). BMI values of smokers are significantly higher than non-smokers (T151=3293.000, p = 0.011. On the other hand, while the hedonic hunger scores of people who do and do not take regular medication do not differ significantly; BMI scores of those receiving medication were found to be statistically significantly higher (T151= 1929.000, p= 0.005). One of the remarkable statistical results was that the BMI value of the group that had been on any diet before was statistically significantly higher than that of those who had not dieted (T151 = 3817, p = 0.001). Keywords: Hedonic hunger, nutrition knowledge, desk workers