Unlocking Healthy Nutritional Habits: A Comparative Analysis with Health and Food and Beverage Industry Employees

Abstract Healthy nutritional habits are critical for the health and well-being of future generations. Many people around the world cannot get enough vitamins and minerals due to wrong and unbalanced nutrition. In order to eliminate this, factors that support people's healthy eating habits need to be determined. This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting healthy nutrition habits. In the study, being an expert in eating and drinking, having received formal education on health, or receiving professional support on nutrition were considered as external factors. Healthy nutrition level was evaluated on the basis of nutrition knowledge, emotions about nutrition, positive nutrition habits and poor nutrition habits. In this context, an online survey was applied to a total of 425 employees from the health sector (202 people) and the food and beverage sector (223 people). The obtained data were analyzed comparatively. The results of the study showed that the level of nutrition knowledge was equal in both groups. However, it was concluded that food and beverage sector employees are more sensitive than health sector employees regarding feelings about nutrition, positive nutrition and bad eating habits. While food and beverage sector employees are expected to constantly deal with food, which would cause desensitization, it has been observed that, on the contrary, they are consistent and resistant to healthy eating. It was concluded that although they did not receive formal education on health, the information they acquired through professional support (dietitian) catalyzed the processes of developing healthy eating behavior.