EATING BEHAVIOUR IN ROTATING NURSING INTERNS

Abstract

Introduction: Nursing students, upon beginning their rotating internship in different health homes, face a world of work and academics, challenging challenges to achieve healthy eating. Objective: Determine the eating behavior in rotating nursing interns at the Technical University of Ambato. Methods: The study was carried out in a quantitative, cross-sectional approach, with a population of 173 rotating nursing interns, resulting in a census sample. A survey called “Eating Behavior Questionnaire” was applied, focused on food selection, preference, preparation, frequency of consumption, beliefs and barriers to change. Results: Among the predominant preferences were meat and chicken 61.27%, usually prepared fried 34.68%, selected based on its flavor 40.46% and its price 24.28%, because more than 50% of the participants eat 3 to 6 times a week outside the home, reflecting a lack of interest in 45.09% in terms of chewing more than 25 times the bolus, despite the intentions of taking care of their diet and exercising. 38.73%. Conclusions: The eating behavior of rotating nursing interns is unhealthy, given that they prefer foods for their flavor and way of preparation, but not for their nutritional content, avoiding vegetables. They show little interest in reading nutritional labels, however, they state that they want to improve their eating habits.