Health perceptions and obesity awareness of nursing students.

Background: Obesity is a chronic disease that is a global problem. Individuals' perceptions of what health and a healthy lifestyle constitute have an important role in preventing obesity.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the relationship between nursing students' health perceptions and obesity awareness.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with nursing students (n = 242) between December 20, 2019 and March 20, 2020 in the XXXXX School of Health. A student information form, health perception scale, and obesity awareness scale were used to collect the data.

Results: The average total score of the obesity awareness scale was 3.14 ± 0.36, and the average total score of the health perception scale was 38.48 ± 6.65.

Conclusions: Overall, the students perceived that health status was more associated with concepts such as chance and destiny. It is recommended that students' health perceptions be improved.