Journal of Education and Training Studies Vol. 7, No. 12; December 2019 ISSN 2324-805X E-ISSN 2324-8068 Published by Redfame Publishing URL: http://jets.redfame.com 52 Effects of Interdisciplinery Nutrition Education on Prospective Science Teachers‟ Development of Healthy Life Style Behaviours Hatice Mertoglu Correspondence: Hatice Mertoglu, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Marmara University, İstanbul, Turkey. Received: October 23, 2019 Accepted: November 25, 2019 Online Published: November 27, 2019 doi:10.11114/jets.v7i12.4578 URL: https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v7i12.4578 Abstract With the interdisciplinary approach which is developed as an alternative to the traditional disciplinary model in education, it is aimed that the students will have a holistic perspective while producing solutions to real life problems. In this study, the effects of nutrition education given with interdisciplinary approach on health development behaviors of prospective teachers were investigated. The research has an experimental research model, which is one of the quantitative research designs. The sample of the study is consisting of 60 prospective teachers studying in the science teaching department of a state university in Istanbul in the 2016-2017 education year. In this study, in addition to demographic information form that has been applied, the Healthy Life Style Behavior Scale II (HLSBS-II) was also applied to the experimental and control group students in order to determine healthy life style behaviors of students. SPSS 23 package program was used to perform statistical analysis of the gathered data. When the post-test data were analyzed, it was seen that there were significant differences between four sub-dimensions (physical activity, nutrition, inner development and stress management) and overall scores of the two groups (p<.05). When the research results are examined, it appears that interdisciplinary nutrition education has a positive effect on students' healthy life style behaviors. The information obtained in the research was discussed and recommendations were made accordingly. Keywords: healthy life style behaviors, interdisciplinary approach, nutrition education, prospective science teachers 1. Introduction Health has always been an important position for the welfare and continuity of society. Whereas health care is organized within this importance, it has undergone many changes and has taken shape to meet the needs of people and societies. While health care models have aimed to improve health in the past, nowadays these models are more interested in protecting from diseases and improving health (Carreno, Vyhmeister, Grau & Ivanovic, 2006). The World Health Organization (1995) defined the concept of health as a state of complete well-being in terms of physical, mental and social aspects, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The individual must have a healthy life style to preserve, maintain and improve the well-being described in this definition. Since the emergence of civilizations, four different ages have been experienced, and all of these ages had different characteristics, sociological structures and economies. In these days of the information age, with the industrialization and modernization, life styles of today's people has changed considerably compared to the past, people and nature have moved away from each other and the rate of urbanization has reached the highest level (Al Ma‟aitah, Haddad & Umlauf, 1999; Kocatepe & Tırıl, 2015). In this modern structure of life, which altered many orders in daily life, the work lives, occupations and daily activities of individuals have also changed. Modernism, which breaks the social structure and routines from the conventional, has also changed the nutrition culture, way of life, the ingredients of foods and the manufacturing types (Al Ma‟aitah, Haddad & Umlauf, 1999). This considerable change in people's life styles has caused some negative effects on their health. Alterations in the health behaviors of individuals have occurred with the changing daily life. In the literature, health behaviors are divided into two groups as health-promoting behaviors and health-damaging behaviors. Health-damaging behaviors, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, consuming excess fatty foods, etc., increase the vulnerability and sensitivity of the individual against negative health consequences (Engle, Castle & Menon, 1996; Ak, Çelen, Özen, Tabak & Piyal, 2006). Lack of physical activity is also included in these behaviors. The changing life styles of people in the 21 st century increased the prevalence of these health-damaging behaviors. The University education is a period in which students begin to gain decision-making skills with coming of age. Pre-adult