Relationship between nutrition knowledge level, body perception and emotional eating among pregnant and lactating women: a cross-sectional study of 200 Turkish women
Relationship between nutrition knowledge level, body perception and emotional eating among pregnant and lactating women: a cross-sectional study of 200 Turkish women
Background: nutrition knowledge is crucial for a healthy pregnancy and lactation period. Misleading information about healthy nutrition can lead to health problems. Therefore, it is important to obtain information about healthy nutrition from the right sources and increase awareness of healthy nutrition, especially during these periods. This study aims to explore the relationships among nutritional knowledge level, body perception, and emotional eating among pregnant and lactating women.
Methods: a total of 200 pregnant and lactating women (100 participants each) were included. A questionnaire was created by researchers, and it consists of 5 sections covering demographic data, the Nutrition Knowledge Level Determination Scale for Adults (NKLSA), false facts about nutrition during pregnancy and lactation (FFNPL), the Photographic Figure Rating Scale (PFRS), and the Emotional Eating Questionnaire (EEQ). All the data were collected face to face from a single-center gynecology department.
Results: pregnant and lactating women had similar nutritional knowledge levels (p>0.05). Basic nutritional knowledge was associated with emotional eating and FFNPL. The majority of pregnant and lactating women had moderate knowledge about basic nutrition and low emotional eating, which was particularly significant for lactating women (pregnancy r=0.288 p>0.05, lactation r=0.130 p<0.05).
Conclusion: the study findings suggest that pregnant and lactating women experience emotional eating and distorted body perception, which are linked to their nutritional knowledge levels. To improve nutritional knowledge among pregnant and lactating women, public health strategies, such as healthy nutrition educational programs should be planned.
body image, emotional eating, lactation, nutritional knowledge, pregnancy
Barcın Güzeldere, Hatice Kübra
e948ade8-b104-442a-b855-c458124a625e
Gençtürk, Şevval
06361414-f6fe-4cfc-ae75-56ca8873011d
Türker, Zeynep
4f55559f-ee4f-4454-8508-d05d3f0f3d0c
Demirçivi, Ergül
7d74ba69-64d0-463d-8e48-9d8277af5c3c
Lwaleed, Bashir A.
e7c59131-82ad-4a14-a227-7370e91e3f21
24 January 2026
Barcın Güzeldere, Hatice Kübra
e948ade8-b104-442a-b855-c458124a625e
Gençtürk, Şevval
06361414-f6fe-4cfc-ae75-56ca8873011d
Türker, Zeynep
4f55559f-ee4f-4454-8508-d05d3f0f3d0c
Demirçivi, Ergül
7d74ba69-64d0-463d-8e48-9d8277af5c3c
Lwaleed, Bashir A.
e7c59131-82ad-4a14-a227-7370e91e3f21
Barcın Güzeldere, Hatice Kübra, Gençtürk, Şevval, Türker, Zeynep, Demirçivi, Ergül and Lwaleed, Bashir A.
(2026)
Relationship between nutrition knowledge level, body perception and emotional eating among pregnant and lactating women: a cross-sectional study of 200 Turkish women.
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.
(doi:10.1186/s12884-025-08622-9).
Abstract
Background: nutrition knowledge is crucial for a healthy pregnancy and lactation period. Misleading information about healthy nutrition can lead to health problems. Therefore, it is important to obtain information about healthy nutrition from the right sources and increase awareness of healthy nutrition, especially during these periods. This study aims to explore the relationships among nutritional knowledge level, body perception, and emotional eating among pregnant and lactating women.
Methods: a total of 200 pregnant and lactating women (100 participants each) were included. A questionnaire was created by researchers, and it consists of 5 sections covering demographic data, the Nutrition Knowledge Level Determination Scale for Adults (NKLSA), false facts about nutrition during pregnancy and lactation (FFNPL), the Photographic Figure Rating Scale (PFRS), and the Emotional Eating Questionnaire (EEQ). All the data were collected face to face from a single-center gynecology department.
Results: pregnant and lactating women had similar nutritional knowledge levels (p>0.05). Basic nutritional knowledge was associated with emotional eating and FFNPL. The majority of pregnant and lactating women had moderate knowledge about basic nutrition and low emotional eating, which was particularly significant for lactating women (pregnancy r=0.288 p>0.05, lactation r=0.130 p<0.05).
Conclusion: the study findings suggest that pregnant and lactating women experience emotional eating and distorted body perception, which are linked to their nutritional knowledge levels. To improve nutritional knowledge among pregnant and lactating women, public health strategies, such as healthy nutrition educational programs should be planned.
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s12884-025-08622-9_reference
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The Relationship Between the Level of Nutrition Knowledge
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 30 December 2025
Published date: 24 January 2026
Keywords:
body image, emotional eating, lactation, nutritional knowledge, pregnancy
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 509171
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509171
ISSN: 1471-2393
PURE UUID: f9144ca2-da58-42f2-87f6-ecdcc32ff265
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Date deposited: 11 Feb 2026 18:10
Last modified: 12 Feb 2026 02:43
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Contributors
Author:
Hatice Kübra Barcın Güzeldere
Author:
Şevval Gençtürk
Author:
Zeynep Türker
Author:
Ergül Demirçivi
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