Objective: To assess the relationship between the sense of coherence (SOC), eating behaviour and nutritional status.
Design: It is a systematic review.
Setting: The following databases were searched: MEDLINE/PubMed, Science Direct/Elsevier, LILACS/Bireme, SciELO and Google Scholar, using the indexed terms 'salutogenesis', 'sense of coherence', 'nutritional status', 'nutrition', 'eating behavior' and 'healthy eating'. The indexed terms were used in Portuguese and English according to the database searched. The data were extracted in a standardised way and the quality of the studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
Participants: Observational studies were included, with no limitations on the date of publication or language.
Results: After reading the titles and abstracts of 1855 articles, 107 full texts were retrieved, of which 27 were included. Of these, twenty-five were cross-sectional and two were longitudinal. The average score for Newcastle-Ottawa studies was 6 and most studies were rated as moderate and low quality. The cumulative sample size of all included studies was 28 981 adults and the elderly, aged between 18 and 81 years. The studies were carried out in fifteen different countries. Fifteen articles assessed eating behaviour/habit and twelve assessed nutritional status. Studies have shown that SOC has a positive relationship with an appropriate eating behaviour/habit. On the other hand, the relationship between SOC and nutritional status was controversial among studies. The heterogeneity of the data resulting from the use of different methods of evaluation of the outcomes of interest (nutritional status and eating behaviour) made it impossible to perform a meta-analysis.
Conclusion: SOC was positively associated with adequate eating behaviour. However, it was not possible to establish a relationship between SOC and nutritional status.
Keywords: Feeding behaviour; Healthy eating; Nutritional status; Salutogenesis; Sense of coherence.