A comparison of the attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge of nutrigenomics between dietetic students in the USA and Mexico

The purpose of this study was to compare nutrition/dietetic students from Texas Woman’s University (TWU) and Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) in respect to their perceived need, interest, and knowledge of different topics within nutritional genomics. A nutritional genomics survey was administered to students at UANL and compared to students at TWU that had taken the survey as part of a previous study. The data was analyzed using chi-square test of homogeneity and Fisher’s exact test. The results showed that students from TWU and UANL differed from each other in their knowledge level, desire to learn more, and perceived need for ‘omic’ technologies. Both TWU and UANL students lack a high level of knowledge about different ‘omic’ topics but recognize the important role that ‘omics’ will play in their future careers as dietitians.