Health e-literacy among university students and consumption of nutrition information.

Abstract

With the expansion of the internet and social media, access to health and nutrition information has become a habit among a large part of the population. In this context, understanding e-literacy as a skill for health promotion and prevention of harm and illness becomes important information for public health. Therefore, the objective of this study is to observe the presence of health e-literacy among university students and analyze their consumption of nutrition information on social media. This is a cross-sectional study conducted with university students using a self-administered online questionnaire. The questions included sociodemographic and academic information, as well as the e-Health Literacy Scale (eHEALS). Analyses were performed using statistical software to correlate the variables. The study included 241 undergraduate students with a median age of 22.7 years; 73.1% of respondents were female, only 39.3% were students from health centers, and 55.4% were between the first and sixth semesters of their undergraduate studies. Among those with greater access to digital media, a significant search for information related to nutrition and health, such as hypertrophy, diets, and weight loss, was observed. Students demonstrated favorable e-health literacy, with the average for students from health centers being higher than for those from other courses. Those with greater access to social networks showed significant interest in seeking out topics related to nutrition, such as hypertrophy, eating behavior, diets, and weight, topics closely linked to aesthetics.