Objective To investigate the nutritional health status and nutritional knowledge awareness among university students

so as to provide evidence to improve the nutritional education for this population.Methods With the use of random sampling

a total of 430 students from a single university in Wuhan received a questionnaire survey.Results The body mass index（BMI）varied significantly with gender

major

and grade（P<0.05）.In terms of nutritional behaviors

food selection was mainly based on taste or habit（68.83%）

followed by nutritional value（61.86%）;only 14.88% of the surveyed students had breakfast every day.In terms of nutritional knowledge

27 students′（6.28%）level was "excellent"

133（30.93%）was "good"

210（48.84%）was "acceptable"

and 60（13.95%）was "poor".The score of nutritional knowledge was 20.42±7.81;the differences among different majors were statistically significant（P<0.05）

and medical students scored higher than other majors

the difference showing statistical siginificance（P<0.05）.In terms of nutritional attitude

78.14% of the surveyed students would like to change their eating habits for better health

15.35% reported frequent attention to dietary and nutritional health

and 61.63%reported occasional attention to dietary and nutritional health.In addition

nutritional knowledge was mainly obtained via Internet（70.93%）

and the most needed nutritional knowledge was formulation of daily diet（55.35%）and healthycooking methods（52.79%）.Conclusion The awareness level of nutritional knowledge was relatively poor among university students

but their nutritional attitude was generally positive.This population is interested in the nutritional knowledge about the three meals in daily life

and Internet is the preferred platform to implement nutritional health education.