Production and consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has tended to increase in the last two decades around the world. Although the use of GMOs in the food industry has become increasingly common, their effects on human health have not yet been clarified. The attitudes and approaches of pediatricians towards GMOs are very important and have the power of influencing the nutritional habits of not only children but also the whole society through parents. In this study, it was aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of pediatricians and pediatric residents about GMOs. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between 1-31 December 2021 with 102 pediatricians and pediatric residents working at Ankara Dr. Sami Ulus Training and Research Hospital for Maternity and Children’s Health and Diseases. The data were analyzed using the SPSS package program. 67.6% of the participants stated that GMO foods are harmful to health, 37.3% stated that physicians have sufficient knowledge about GMO foods in general and 63.7% stated that he/she advise his/her patients not to consume GMO foods. While 78 (76.4%) of the participants stated that they heard the term GMO for the first time from media tools such as internet/ television/newspaper/radio; only 13 (12.7%) participants stated that they heard it for the first-time during training activities. In our study, it was shown that the risk perception of the research group towards GMOs was high, and their level of knowledge was low. In order to eliminate the suspicions of physicians about GMO foods, giving more space to this subject in educational activities will increase the awareness of physicians and the society.

Keywords: genetically modified organisms (GMO), GMO foods, level of knowledge, pediatrician