Knowledge of university students toward the role of dietary and lifestyle behaviours in colorectal cancer: A cross-sectional study

Lim, Xin Yuan (2023) Knowledge of university students toward the role of dietary and lifestyle behaviours in colorectal cancer: A cross-sectional study. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has emerged as a new global killer and places a healthcare burden on society. Nonetheless, CRC is preventable through good dietary and lifestyle behaviours. Hence, knowledge about CRC prevention is essential among university students to prevent early-onset of CRC as there is a dearth of research on knowledge about diet and lifestyle behaviours for CRC prevention in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the knowledge of Malaysian university students toward the role of diet and lifestyle behaviours in CRC prevention with a self-reported online questionnaire. This study enrolled 392 respondents via convenience sampling. Most respondents (78.3%) demonstrated a high level of knowledge level about CRC and its risk factors. Significant differences were found between the field of study (p<0.001) year of study (p<0.001) and academic performance (p=0.014) with knowledge score. However, no significant difference was found between gender and knowledge score (p=0.157), although females (12.27±4.33) had a slightly higher mean score than males (11.54±4.80). Apart from that, most of the respondents were practising risky dietary and lifestyle behaviours related to CRC risk factors such as less than two servings of fruit intake per day (75.3%), less than three servings of vegetable intake per day (76.0%), less than or equal to one serving of onion intake per day (88.3%), less than or equal to one serving of dairy product consumption per day (76.8%), and less than three days of engagement in physical activity per week (87.5%). Additionally, there was a statistically significant association between respondents’ knowledge scores with fruit intake (p<0.001), vegetable intake (p=0.002), and French fries’ consumption (p=0.007). In conclusion, most respondents demonstrated good knowledge level towards CRC and its risk factors. Nonetheless, nutrition related CRC prevention programmes can be introduced to enhance undergraduate students’ perception towards healthy eating and lifestyle behaviours.

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