Leyla Ozgen

Body image among female university students in Turkey: concurrent translation and validation of three body image measures

The aim of the present study was to translate into Turkish and validate three measures of body image for women, namely the Photographic Figure Rating Scale, the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS) and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3). A total of 501 female undergraduates from Ankara completed Turkish versions of the aforementioned scales, along with Turkish versions of measures of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Participants also reported their body mass index (BMI). Factor analytic results showed that the BAS reduced to a single dimension, whereas the SATAQ-3 reduced to four dimensions; these factor structures were similar to those observed among various Western samples. Further analyses showed that most respondents (55.6%) wanted to be thinner. The translated scales showed good patterns of validity, insofar as scores were significantly correlated with life satisfaction, self-esteem and BMI, and can be recommended for the assessment of body image among Turkish-speaking samples.

Nutritional Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices among University Students in Turkey and the US

Abstract The aim of this study is to explore the differences in nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practicesof students attending the Faculty of Education of Gazi University, Turkey and of the students at St. Cloud StateUniversity, USA regarding culture. In all, 1674 subjects, aged 16-27 participated in the study voluntarily. The datawas collected by means of a demographic information form and Nutritional Attitude Inventory. Independentsamples t-test and Pearson correlation tests were used. The Cronbach’s Alpha values for the nutritional knowledge,nutritional attitude and nutritional practice subscales computed as 0.73, 0.76 and 0.72, respectively. Kaiser-Myer-Olkin coefficient (.84) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity (χ2=17296.304), (p<0.00) were conducted to assess theadequacy of the data for factor analysis. In conclusion, the nutritional attitude subscale had a moderate correlationwith nutritional practice and nutritional knowledge subscales, while there was a weak significant correlationbetween the nutritional practice and nutritional knowledge subscales regarding the nutritional inventory of studentsfrom two different countries.

Attitudes of International Students towards Turkish Foods

Abstract The aim of the paper is to determine the attitudes of international students towards Turkish foods. The present research was carried out on students educated in Turkish in Gazi University, Turkish Learning Application and Research Center (TOMER) in Ankara. Since the number of international students is limited, the research is performed on all the students. Out of the total 212 students, 50 students from the Turkish Republics, 68 students from the Middle East, 38 students from the Balkan countries, 26 students from Africa and 30 students from East Asia participated in the research on voluntary basis. During the research it was noticed that among students who prepare their own food at home or dorms, female students from Turkey preferred preparing food more than male students from same place (p<.05). The reason that female students’ attitudes are more positive than male students’ attitudes on the “inquisitiveness about new food” subscale is that females are typically more curious and interested in foods of different countries (p<.05).