Michelle, X Cui
Amy, L Blazejewski
| Michelle, X Cui | Amy, L Blazejewski |
Michelle X Cui, Amy, L Blazejewski
Beverley A Crawford
Preventive and Restorative Sciences, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Project Overview
This study aims to evaluate the nutritional health and dietary habits of dental students and explores the barriers that are preventing the accessibility to nutritious dietary options. Factors that are relevant include financial status, access to transportation, location, free time availability, kitchen preparation space/living space, lack of education, and negligence. As a result of the data collected by our surveys, an educational resource will be created for students that addresses the specific social determinants in order to optimize the population’s diet and increase access to nutritious foods. The goal of this research study is to provide resources that target students to increase access to a healthy dietary lifestyle, improve overall health, and reduce differences in food choices that exist between on and off campus living.
Outcome
The first survey outcomes show that 32% of students at PDM skipped or cut the size of their meals due to financial reasons, 36% of students claim that it is “difficult” to obtain groceries easily, and 18% of students do not feel comfortable preparing raw produce/meat. The largest barriers were concluded to be lack of time, high stress levels, lack of motivation, poor scheduling (ie. night clinic), location/transport, and comfort/knowledge level of food preparation. Our desired outcomes for this project are to reduce one or more of the most prominent barriers students face to obtaining a healthy diet by providing solutions and alternatives to increase accessibility to nutritious foods.