Background: Army ROTC cadets and service members are required to meet body composition and physical fitness test standards that are dependent on dietary behaviors. The associations of nutrition knowledge on diet quality through motivation for healthy eating of ROTC cadets are yet unknown. Objectives: To examine the associations among nutrition knowledge and diet quality through motivation for healthy eating in Army ROTC cadets Design: Cross-sectional study with convenience sampling scheme Participants/setting: Army ROTC cadets (n=205) from two Midwestern universities Main outcome measures: The associations between nutrition knowledge, motivation for healthy eating, and diet quality Statistical analyses: Frequencies, means, multivariate analysis, and mediation modeling were used to study the associations among the variables. Results: Cadets demonstrated inadequate nutrition knowledge and consumption of the majority of food groups compared to recommendations. Autonomous motivation for healthy eating was a significant, positive predictor of diet quality (=1.071, SE=0.178, p<0.001) and controlled motivation for healthy eating predicted negatively diet quality (v0333=-1.093, SE=0.241, p<0.001). Motivation for healthy eating did not mediate the association between nutrition knowledge and diet quality. Conclusion: Nutrition knowledge was not associated with motivation for healthy eating nor diet quality. However, motivation for healthy eating was a significant predictor of diet quality.
Read
