title: Food Choice Motives among the Students of a Dental Institution in Mysore City, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In pursuit of a more "holistic" dentistry and an increasing focus on promoting oral health, dental students are increasingly being trained to take a more active part in health promotion and education. In particular, this incorporates an emphasis on diet and educating people to eat in more healthy ways.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This paper works from the premise that if dental students are to engage in oral health promotion, they will do so more effectively if they have first explored their own food choice motivations.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive, cross-sectional questionnaire study. The food choice questionnaire (FCQ) was distributed to a comparative group of 1(st) and 5(th) year dental students in timetabled lecture slots. The FCQ is a previously validated measure designed to assess ten main factors relevant to peoples" food choices. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 18.0 (Chicago, IL, USA) using descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nearly 77% (122/159) students responded. Findings were analyzed using independent sample t-test. Results indicated statistically significant differences in terms of food choice motivations between male and female students of 1(st) and 5(th) year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Awareness and an understanding of the differences in motivational factors affecting food choice between dental students is important as they are increasingly taught to play an active role in oral health promotion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry JSS dental College and Hospital, JSS University, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sushma
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, D.A.P.M.R.V Dental College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vanamala
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, JSS Dental College and Hospital, JSS University, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nagabhushana
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry JSS dental College and Hospital, JSS University, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maurya
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry JSS dental College and Hospital, JSS University, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sunitha
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry JSS dental College and Hospital, JSS University, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Cvk
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reddy
keywords: Africa; Food; Oral health