Food and nutrition literacy among university students is significantly associated with hedonic hunger, emotional eating, sleep quality, and ultra-processed food consumption, suggesting that nutrition interventions should extend beyond knowledge transfer and incorporate behavioral and psychosocial components.
Females had significantly higher scores than males in the knowledge and attitude sub-dimensions of food and nutrition literacy (FNL).
Females exhibited significantly higher hedonic hunger and emotional eating scores compared with males.
Females demonstrated poorer sleep quality than males.
No significant gender differences were found in ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption.
Individuals with lower food and nutrition literacy levels demonstrated higher hedonic hunger, poorer sleep quality, greater UPF consumption, and more pronounced emotional eating behaviors.
In linear regression analyses, the knowledge and attitude sub-dimensions of FNL were negatively associated with age, gender, emotional eating, and UPF consumption.
Sociodemographic characteristics, health status, dietary habits, and anthropometric measurements were collected alongside multiple validated psychosocial instruments.
This research suggests that how well university students understand food and nutrition has meaningful connections to their eating behaviors, hunger patterns, and sleep. Studying 1,400 university students, researchers found that those with lower food and nutrition literacy tended to eat more ultra-processed foods (like packaged snacks, fast food, and ready meals), experience stronger urges to eat for pleasure rather than hunger (hedonic hunger), engage more in emotional eating, and sleep more poorly. Women in the study scored higher on food and nutrition knowledge and attitudes than men, but also reported stronger hedonic hunger, more emotional eating, and worse sleep quality — though men and women consumed similar amounts of ultra-processed foods. Interestingly, the study found that while higher literacy in knowledge and attitudes was linked to less emotional eating and lower ultra-processed food consumption, it was also unexpectedly associated with higher hedonic hunger scores. This suggests that simply knowing more about nutrition does not straightforwardly reduce all problematic eating behaviors — the relationship between understanding food and actually eating well is more complex than it might seem. This research suggests that programs aimed at improving eating habits in young adults should not focus solely on providing nutritional information. Because emotional, psychological, and behavioral factors all play a role in what and how people eat, effective interventions likely need to address the emotional and social dimensions of eating as well. University students are at a critical life transition, and this study highlights the importance of comprehensive approaches to nutrition education that go beyond facts to support healthier habits in real-world contexts.
Arslan S, Saban Güler M, Köse A, Kaygusuz &, Demir &, Delioǧlu S. (2026). Ultra-processed food consumption, hedonic hunger, and sleep quality among university students: a food and nutrition literacy perspective.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1785585