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"It is really just brilliant to get credits for something that is so important to you!" Skills for Life: University students' perceptions of a planned dietary life skills course

"It is really just brilliant to get credits for something that is so important to you!" Skills for Life: University students' perceptions of a planned dietary life skills course
"It is really just brilliant to get credits for something that is so important to you!" Skills for Life: University students' perceptions of a planned dietary life skills course

OBJECTIVE: Universities have a role in educating and empowering students to become healthy and literate citizens of the 21st century society. The aim of this study was to explore university students' perceptions regarding the relevance and utility of a planned dietary life skills course.

DESIGN: Qualitative design including focus group discussions.

SETTING: A Norwegian university with participating undergraduate students from seven different disciplines.

METHOD: Data collection included 13 semi-structured focus group discussions involving 57 university students (35 women and 22 men aged 18-38 years). The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim. To ensure in-depth knowledge of the research participants' thoughts and reflections, thematic analysis strategy was undertaken by a team of researchers.

RESULTS: When presented to the idea of a dietary life skills course as a university course, the students were mostly positive regarding its relevance and utility, however both motivators and barriers for attending were put forward. Some mentioned potential academic course benefits, such as enhanced CV, and a few mentioned potential societal benefits such as a healthy population and sustainable food consumption. Several motivators for attending the course were launched, such as increased knowledge and cooking skills, having dinner and expanded network. The students wanted to learn about food, nutrients and health, and how to cook simple, affordable, healthy and sustainable meals. Potential barriers for attending were mostly related to practicalities, such as potential lack of alignment with ordinary study programme or too demanding lectures.

CONCLUSION: Most students acknowledged the value of a dietary life skills course and thought that such a course could benefit their personal life. This encourages the offering of such courses at university level, tailored to consider both motivators and barriers for attending.

Female, Humans, Male, Students, Universities
1932-6203
Valand, Ida Ulrikke
bb5c9ec4-de15-482c-b58e-478857b36745
Øverby, Nina C
5dc65135-16f4-4e2b-b4d9-6168d3543dd2
Strömmer, Sofia
a025047e-effa-4481-9bf4-48da1668649e
Barker, Mary
374310ad-d308-44af-b6da-515bf5d2d6d2
Bjornes, Camilla
083bb9cf-3a5d-42b9-8c5a-d453c01ff511
Nordli, Julie
b4c3b9e9-51bd-4948-9920-640a4a0f8154
Pettersen, Line
11419d18-1fe0-4a13-9df6-11633a8b6edd
Bjørkkjær, Tormod
9c5014cf-dc06-4948-b3dc-8feb45c7132c
Vik, Frøydis N
c36b129d-b54f-42a7-b005-155bdfe14a16
Kiland, Charlotte
89a63e0f-ba52-4d67-91c1-ff5ebb13b8a0
Hillesund, Elisabet R
056fa42b-52a5-493a-915d-3b5230005351
Valand, Ida Ulrikke
bb5c9ec4-de15-482c-b58e-478857b36745
Øverby, Nina C
5dc65135-16f4-4e2b-b4d9-6168d3543dd2
Strömmer, Sofia
a025047e-effa-4481-9bf4-48da1668649e
Barker, Mary
374310ad-d308-44af-b6da-515bf5d2d6d2
Bjornes, Camilla
083bb9cf-3a5d-42b9-8c5a-d453c01ff511
Nordli, Julie
b4c3b9e9-51bd-4948-9920-640a4a0f8154
Pettersen, Line
11419d18-1fe0-4a13-9df6-11633a8b6edd
Bjørkkjær, Tormod
9c5014cf-dc06-4948-b3dc-8feb45c7132c
Vik, Frøydis N
c36b129d-b54f-42a7-b005-155bdfe14a16
Kiland, Charlotte
89a63e0f-ba52-4d67-91c1-ff5ebb13b8a0
Hillesund, Elisabet R
056fa42b-52a5-493a-915d-3b5230005351

Valand, Ida Ulrikke, Øverby, Nina C, Strömmer, Sofia, Barker, Mary, Bjornes, Camilla, Nordli, Julie, Pettersen, Line, Bjørkkjær, Tormod, Vik, Frøydis N, Kiland, Charlotte and Hillesund, Elisabet R (2022) "It is really just brilliant to get credits for something that is so important to you!" Skills for Life: University students' perceptions of a planned dietary life skills course. PLoS ONE, 17 (4 April), [e0260890]. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0260890).

Record type: Article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Universities have a role in educating and empowering students to become healthy and literate citizens of the 21st century society. The aim of this study was to explore university students' perceptions regarding the relevance and utility of a planned dietary life skills course.

DESIGN: Qualitative design including focus group discussions.

SETTING: A Norwegian university with participating undergraduate students from seven different disciplines.

METHOD: Data collection included 13 semi-structured focus group discussions involving 57 university students (35 women and 22 men aged 18-38 years). The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim. To ensure in-depth knowledge of the research participants' thoughts and reflections, thematic analysis strategy was undertaken by a team of researchers.

RESULTS: When presented to the idea of a dietary life skills course as a university course, the students were mostly positive regarding its relevance and utility, however both motivators and barriers for attending were put forward. Some mentioned potential academic course benefits, such as enhanced CV, and a few mentioned potential societal benefits such as a healthy population and sustainable food consumption. Several motivators for attending the course were launched, such as increased knowledge and cooking skills, having dinner and expanded network. The students wanted to learn about food, nutrients and health, and how to cook simple, affordable, healthy and sustainable meals. Potential barriers for attending were mostly related to practicalities, such as potential lack of alignment with ordinary study programme or too demanding lectures.

CONCLUSION: Most students acknowledged the value of a dietary life skills course and thought that such a course could benefit their personal life. This encourages the offering of such courses at university level, tailored to consider both motivators and barriers for attending.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 18 November 2021
Published date: 7 April 2022
Keywords: Female, Humans, Male, Students, Universities

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 457127
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/457127
ISSN: 1932-6203
PURE UUID: d235fbfc-5cd7-4466-9a59-f7a995669474
ORCID for Mary Barker: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2976-0217

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 May 2022 16:54
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:41

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Contributors

Author: Ida Ulrikke Valand
Author: Nina C Øverby
Author: Sofia Strömmer
Author: Mary Barker ORCID iD
Author: Camilla Bjornes
Author: Julie Nordli
Author: Line Pettersen
Author: Tormod Bjørkkjær
Author: Frøydis N Vik
Author: Charlotte Kiland
Author: Elisabet R Hillesund

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