Comparison of healthcare professionals' awareness of nutrition principles and behavior types according to branches

Introduction: Nutritional knowledge and dietary habits of physicians are very important in increasing their quality of life and working performance, and in the success of the treatment effectiveness on their patients. Our aim is to measure the nutritional knowledge levels of health professionals with the title of academic staff, to determine their nutritional habits, to evaluate the harmony between knowledge levels and habits, and to compare the results between branches. Materials and Methods: Our questionnaire, consisting of 66 questions about the level of knowledge on healthy nutrition principles and nutritional habits, was sent to 1330 physicians working in internal and surgical disciplines at Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine between January and March 2021 via e-mail. Results: 185 physicians (BMI: 54,6% normal, 25,4% overweight, 9,2% obese) participated in our study, of which 33% were specialist doctors and 43,8% were research assistants. 55,1% of the participants had breakfast habit. It was determined that 46,5% of those with normal weight frequently consumed "three main meals" and they often preferred "classical mixed breakfast" (46,5%) for breakfast and vegetable meal / salad (51,5%) for lunch. 29,4% of the physicians in the obese group frequently consumed "bagel/ pastry/ patty" for breakfast and "fast food" for lunch (p<0,05). Only 26,1% of those on a special diet (12,4%) were under the control of a dietitian. Physicians in internal sciences answered the questions in the nutrition information section correctly at higher rates. 50.8% of the participants requested nutrition education after the survey. Conclusion: Behaviors of physicians were also positive in subjects where they had a high awareness of healthy nutrition. In the internal branches, the level of knowledge on the subject was high and the practice habits were more accurate. We have identified deficiencies in information on macronutrients and nutritional sources, food groups, recommended portion amounts, dietary fiber and antioxidant nutrients. As a result of this study, we aim to increase the awareness of our physicians about healthy nutrition principles by planning a nutrition education and to bring positive behavioral changes.