The Impact of Dietary Habits and Nutrition Knowledge on Harmful Alcohol Use and Nicotine Dependence Among Medical Students: A Single-Center, Cross-Sectional Study.

Background

Harmful alcohol use and nicotine dependence are major public health concerns. One group particularly at risk may be medical students, who might resort to substance use as a coping mechanism for stress. Various factors may influence these behaviors, either positively or negatively-among them, dietary knowledge and eating habits.

Methods

In this study, we used the KOMPAN questionnaire to assess dietary habits and nutrition knowledge, the AUDIT questionnaire to evaluate problematic alcohol consumption, and the Fagerström Test to assess nicotine dependence. A total of 2801 medical students participated in this study, including 2374 alcohol users and 379 smokers.

Results

Smoking students demonstrated significantly lower dietary quality (p < 0.0001) and nutrition knowledge (p = 0.0004). Among alcohol users, lower levels of problematic alcohol consumption were observed in individuals with better dietary quality (p = 0.0006) and higher nutrition knowledge (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

Future research should explore additional factors contributing to the clustering of unhealthy behaviors and the underlying causes of alcohol consumption and poor dietary habits among healthcare professionals.