Purpose: Little is known about interrelationships among nutrition knowledge, attitude, dietary intake, and body satisfaction, which are important variables that play a role in nutrition education interventions. This paper aims to focus on these interrelationships.Design/methodology/approach: Students (n=279; 20.12±1.75SD years) enrolled at a large northeastern US university took an online survey. The survey contained a nutrition knowledge scale, attitude scale, food frequency scales, body areas satisfaction subscale, and demographic characteristics questions. To determine relationships, correlation coefficients were computed, along with forward stepwise regression to identify predictors of each study measure.Research limitations/implications: Data were collected from a non‐probability sample in one geographical area at one time point.Findings: In males, significant positive correlations were found between fruit/vegetable servings and attitudes, knowledge, body satisfaction; and between knowledge and attitudes. Stepwise multiple regression analysis found fruit/vegetable servings and percent calories from fat significantly predicted attitudes, while in females attitude was a significant predictor variable for knowledge, fruit/vegetable servings, and percent of calories from fat. Among females, significant positive correlations occurred between attitudes and knowledge, and fruit/vegetable servings and attitudes.Practical implications: Nutrition and health interventions should incorporate lessons that work to improve one's attitudes toward nutrition. Interventions targeted to males should aim to increase nutrition knowledge, while interventions targeted to females should focus on nutrition knowledge and attitudes.Originality/value: This paper expands on what is known about young adults and key cognitive factors that influence their nutrition knowledge, attitudes, dietary intake, and body satisfaction. Nutrition educators can utilize the study findings to inform future nutrition interventions.

Despite recent relaxation of restrictions on dietary fat consumption in dietary guidelines, there remains a collective “fear of fat”. This study examined college students’ perceptions of health among foods with no fat relative to foods with different types of fats (unsaturated and saturated). Utilizing a multisite approach, this study collected data from college students at six university dining halls throughout the United States. Data were available on 533 students. Participants were 52% male and consisted largely of first-year students (43%). Across three meal types, the no-fat preparation option was chosen 73% of the time, the unsaturated fat option was selected 23% of the time, and the saturated fat option was chosen 4% of the time. Students chose the no-fat option for all meal types 44% of the time. Findings suggest that college students lack knowledge regarding the vital role played by the type and amount of fats within a healthy diet. Nutrition education and food system reforms are needed to help consumers understand that type of fat is more important than total amount of fat. Efforts across various sectors can encourage incorporating, rather than avoiding, fats within healthy dietary patterns.

College campuses increasingly prioritize student wellness through whole-person preventive approaches as rates of stress, anxiety, and mental health distress among college students continue to rise....