Food Neophobia and Disgust Sensitivity in Medical Students

Year 2024, Volume: 14 Issue: 2, 170 - 176, 29.08.2024

Meltem Puşuroğlu Begüm Aydın Taslı , Mehmet Baltacıoğlu , Çiçek Hocaoğlu

Abstract

Aim: Food neophobia, the avoidance of trying new flavours, is increasingly observed in the globalised world. There may be different reasons underlying food neophobia, which can be considered both as a personality trait and a symptom. In our study, we aimed to explore the relationship between food neophobia and disgust sensitivity in medical students.
Material and Method: A total of 163 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Faculty of Medicine students who were continuing their education in the 2022–2023 academic year between 01.04.2023 and 01.07.2023 were included in the research. Sociodemographic data form, Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), Disgust Sensitivity Scale Revised Form (DSS-R) were applied online to all participants
Results: DSS-R (mean=48.07±10.447) in females was statistically significantly higher than male gender (mean=43.8±9.57). (p=0.01). There was no significant difference between the FNS levels of the female and male genders (p=0.911). A significant positive correlation was found between DSS-R and FNS (p=0.08 r=0.208).
Conclusions: There is a positive relationship between disgust sensitivity and food neophobia. It is important to explore the underlying factors of food neophobia, which may lead to significant nutritional problems. Disgust sensivity can be a cause of food nephobia. New research is needed on food neophobia leading to malnutrition and obesity in older age.

Keywords

food neophobia, disgust sensitivity, medical students

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