ATTITUDES OF GENERATION Z TOWARD DIGITAL GAMING AND HEALTHY NUTRITION ACCORDING TO REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY STATUS

Background
The study aimed to identify the relationship between attitudes toward digital gaming and healthy nutrition according to participation in physical activity.

Material and methods
The sample consisted of 332 (171 female, 161 male) students aged 10 to 14. The Digital Gaming Attitude Scale and Attitude Scale for Healthy Nutrition were used to collect data. After verifying the normal distribution of the data, Pearson correlation analysis and t-test were performed.

Results
The results showed a moderate inverse correlation between DGAS and ASHN scores. Moreover, a moderate inverse correlation was found between the DGAS and ASHN scores of both physically active and sedentary participants. Male participants, regardless of their physical exercise status, had significantly higher DGAS scores than female participants. No significant difference was found in the ASHN scores of those who participated in physical activity and those who did not participate in physical activity according to their gender.

Conclusions
The findings suggested that the increase in the attitude toward digital gaming caused a reduction in the attitude toward healthy nutrition, and participation in regular physical activity diminished the attitude toward playing digital games. Furthermore, the results indicated that male participants had higher digital gaming attitudes than female participants, irrespective of their physical activity status.