[01] Anne Tan Lixin, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [02] Phedra Hee Jun Han, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [03] Tan Meng Yang, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [04] Aishath Suma Abdul Latheef, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [05] Sumita Seelan, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.

Nutrition labels are important as they provide detailed information about a food item which help consumers in making decisions before purchasing a food item. However, there is a lack of awareness among medical students in using food labels when making purchasing decisions even though they have better understanding and knowledge on nutrition. This study was conducted to assess the nutrition knowledge and usage of nutrition labelling from the perspective of undergraduate medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College (MMMC). A cross sectional study was conducted from March 2020 to April 2020. Data were collected using online questionnaires which included questions about demographic data, nutrition knowledge, the use of food and nutrition labels and factors that affected the use of food labelling. The analysis included frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation, unpaired T-test, ANOVA and Chi-square. Statistical tests were done using Epi Info software (version 7.2) in which level of significance was set at P < 0.05. 38.10% of the students had high nutrition knowledge level while 58.50% had moderate nutrition knowledge level and the remaining 3.40% had low nutrition knowledge level. There was no significant association between age, gender, academic semester, ethnicity, nationality, family income/month, BMI and knowledge. 59.86% of the students used nutrition labels whereas 40.14% did not use them during food purchasing. There was a significant association between BMI and use of food labelling as obese students were less likely to use of food labelling compared to normal BMI (p value = 0.038). There was no significant association between age, gender, academic semester, ethnicity, nationality, family income/month and use of food labelling. Education on nutrition knowledge and the importance of using nutrition labels should be done in the mass media or incorporated in the curriculum to instil nutrition knowledge and promote frequent usage of nutrition information labels among students.

Nutrition Labels, Knowledge of Nutrition, Medical Students

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