Exploring Factors Affecting Dietary Habits Of Mansoura University Students (original) (raw)
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Dietary Practices and Barriers to Adherence to Healthy Eating among King Faisal University Students
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
Proper dietary practices should be developed during the student years that will continue into the future. This study aimed to identify the eating habits and dietary practices among King Faisal University (KFU) students, explore the barriers to adherence to healthy eating, associate the understanding of healthy diets with students' characteristics, and determine the association between body mass index (BMI) and awareness of the concept of healthy diets, academic discipline, and enrollment in a nutrition course. In this cross-sectional study, students were selected randomly and a questionnaire was distributed using an electronic platform through KFU email. Out of 564 students, nearly half (45.7%) reported eating snacks as their main food, and some (38.3%) reported eating with their family twice daily. The students rarely reported eating with friends (73%) or eating dates (48.8%). Furthermore, many reported that they were not consuming a balanced diet (42.6%). Some students (46.3%) reported taking breakfast daily, and 49.1% reported eating meals regularly. There was low consumption of vegetables (29.3%) and fruits (26.2%) among the students. The barriers to adherence to healthy eating were the availability of fast food (73.2%), high cost of healthy food (72.7%), limited time (59%), and laziness (57.1%). Statistically significant data indicated that the students with a normal BMI were more aware of the concept of healthy diets, studied medical and applied sciences, and were enrolled in KFU nutrition courses.
International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health, 2017
Background: Admission to the university is a new stage of life for students that are generally associated with independence, social activities, and changes in lifestyle and behavior including changes in nutritional habits. Objectives: The study objective was to investigate the lifestyle and major dietary risk factors associated with the development of overweight and obesity among Najran University students, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: 300 undergraduate students attending Najran University completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographic, social, and cultural data, as well as information on eating habits, health and nutritional status. The questionnaire was labeled and coded by the researcher. The data obtained were subjected to analysis using Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Results: Analysis of the dietary habits of the students in the present sample revealed adoption of several undesired dietary habits. Two-thirds of them had between 1 and 2 weekly servings of fruit and vegetables, more than half choosing the less healthy food, fast food in particular, and about one-third only having a regular healthy breakfast on a daily basis. Almost two-thirds (62%) of the students have normal body mass index, almost 14.2% are underweight, 11% are overweight, and 12% are obese. 29% of the students engaged in regular exercise while another 25% stated that they never or hardly ever perform physical exercise. Most students, about 40% go to bed between 1 and 3 am, 47% sleep for <6 h/day, and more than 50% feel that they are not getting enough sleep although 24% always take a nap and 45% take a nap occasionally. Majority of the students did not smoke, with 17.2% of the students being regular smokers. These figures reflect the rather unhealthy dietary and lifestyle patterns of Najran University students in general. Conclusion: This study showed the difficulties that university students encounter, especially when they are away from the family, in following a healthy lifestyle and taking care of themselves from the nutritional point of view. The present data had shown relatively alarming prevalence of overweight/obesity, unhealthy dietary practices, and lifestyle behaviors that should be targeted and modified. This project provides valuable data that could be used by policymakers to address issues concerning students' health.
Comparison of diet quality among female students in different majors at Taibah University
Nutrition and Health, 2020
Background: Diet quality is a term used to assess both the quality and variety of food intake by comparing dietary guidelines. The quality of dietary intake can be used to determine the association between food intake and health status. Studies comparing diet quality among students from different departments are limited. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the dietary quality of female college students with majors in different departments at Taibah University, Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study conducted with 658 female participants. The Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I) was used to describe dietary quality. Results: The total DQI-I score of the College of Applied Medical Sciences (CAMS) students (55.5%) was higher than those of the College of Sciences (CS) (52.3%) and College of Arts and Humanities (CAH) (50.4%) students. The risk of having a poor diet was higher among the CS (odds ratio (OR) ¼ 1.154, 95% confidence interval (CI) (95% CI) ¼ 1.007-1.879) and CAH students (OR ¼ 1.624, CI ¼ 1.012-2.604) than among the CAMS students. Having a low DQI-I score was associated with a high risk of obesity (OR¼ 2.478, 95% CI ¼ 1.007-3.879) and a high body fat % (OR ¼ 3.920, 95% CI ¼ 1.757-8.749). Conclusion: This study showed the need to raise awareness among the younger population about the importance of healthy eating, which involves implementing healthy habits to improve one's quality of life.
Food consumption and lifestyle habits among university students in Saudi Arabia
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
Food consumption and lifestyle habits can have a positive or negative direct impact on an individual’s health. University students tend to have poor eating habits that are influenced mainly by sensory perceptions. This survey was done to evaluate the status of food consumption and lifestyle habits among Taif university students (males and females). A total of 600 students aged from 18 to 24 years participated in the survey and responded to questions on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, eating habits, food consumption frequency, attitude, health and food awareness knowledge. The randomly selected students were from various levels in university representing wide categories and living conditions in Taif Region, Saudi Arabia. The examined students efficiently completed the survey with the help of the university staff. Weight and height were evaluated by a portable standing electronic scale and a portable stadiometer (Seca 879, Germany) to calculate the Body mass index...
Nutritional Behaviors and Perceived Barriers Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
Global Journal of Health Science, 2018
PURPOSE: This study was a) performed to evaluate to what degree Jordanian university students display healthy nutritional behavior, b) which socio-demographic variables impact on it, and c) to identify perceived barriers toward not eating healthy foods. METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive survey based on a questionnaire, was completed by Jordanian university students (n =1.180). RESULTS: Students show a low level of a nutritional behaviors score (10 from 20).The most common types of food/drink consumed were caffeine drinks and the rarely or never consumed one was fish. The perceived barriers for not eating healthy food reported were: i) Healthy foods are expensive, ii) Lack of time, iii) Poor choice of healthy foods, iv) living alone at home, v) Don’t know how to cook, and vi) Don’t like/enjoy healthy foods. CONCLUSIONS: Increased nutritional awareness and healthier nutrition are needed to improve nutritional behavior because it connected with improving health status a...
Health-Risk Behaviors and Dietary Patterns Among Jordanian College Students: A Pilot Study
Frontiers in Nutrition, 2021
Background/Aims: Health promotion and the incorporation of health-protective behaviors in people's lifestyles have a great role in enhancing individuals' overall health and well-being. College students are at increased risk of developing unhealthy dietary and lifestyle behaviors. A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted to assess the health-risk behaviors among undergraduate college students at Jordan University of Science and Technology.Methods: The final sample included 136 students, with a mean age of 21.1 ± 2.37 years, mostly females (69%). A self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection about dietary and lifestyle behaviors among college students. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: sociodemographic characteristics, body weight classifications, lifestyle behaviors, and dietary patterns and intake, and eating behaviors.Results: Most of the students did not meet the daily recommendations for fruit (76%) and vegetable (82%) intake. Males were significa...
Obesity and Eating Habits among University Students in Alexandria, Egypt: A Cross Sectional Study
The prevalence of obesity in Egypt among young adults is high, particularly among females. Eating habits display general trends over time, reflecting sociocultural trends in food availability and nutritional knowledge and goals; lifestyle changes toward unhealthy dietary patterns such as high fast food consumption are becoming trendy among young adults. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a sample of students from the University of Pharos, Alexandria, Egypt (PUA) and to examine their eating habits. A cross-sectional survey of 398 university students (males and females) aged 18-26 years, who were chosen randomly from Pharos University campus during the spring semester 2016-2017. Students were asked to fill out a self-reported questionnaire that included questions on their eating, drinking and smoking habits, their weight, and height. Body mass index (BMI) was used to assess students' weight status. The results showed that 28.9% of the students were overweight, 11.8 % were obese, while (55.8%) were of normal weight (49.6% of males compared to 59.1% of females), and 3.5% were underweight. Eating habits of the students showed that the majority (80%) was taking meals irregularly. Almost half of students (45.7%) reported eating two meals per day (44.4% of females as compared to 48.2% males). About 57.6% of female students reported eating breakfast daily or three to four times per week compared to 55.3% male students. Two third of the student were taking snacks daily or three to four times per week (68.1% female vs. 71.6% males, with a statistically significant difference between males and females (p=0.034). Male students tend to eat more fruits daily as compared to females (39.7% vs. 36.2% respectively). Smoking was not common among students. The study concluded that obesity and overweight were prevalent among PUA college students, irregular and infrequent meals together with low vegetables intake and frequent snaking were the most common unhealthy eating habits of the participants. In terms of eating patterns, significant differences were observed between the two genders with respect to frequent snacking by males.
2021
Background: Syrian eating habits are trending towards westernized patterns that are high in carbohydrates, fats, and meat. This accompanied by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle has affected young adults’ dietary habits. As a consequence, obesity and overweight young adults are significantly increasing in prevalence. This study aims to assess the pattern of eating habits and their relation with psychosocial factors among university students. The objective of this study is to identify factors associated with eating habits and psychological factors.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Syrian Private University students using a self-administrated questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 3 sections: socio-demographic characteristics, eating habits, and psychosocial factors. Hierarchical multivariate linear regression was used to obtain factors associated significantly with eating habit score and psychological factors.Results: Of 728 students included in the study 3...
Dietary habits of adolescent students in Mansoura, Egypt
Background: During the last few decades, Egypt experienced rapid socio-cultural changes that were associated with major changes in the food choices and eating habits, which, progressively, becomes more westernized. Aims: To investigate the consumption of different food groups among secondary school students and its associated socio-demographic factors in Mansoura, Egypt. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 927 adolescent students. Thirty clusters were selected to cover both general and vocational public schools of both sexes in urban and rural areas. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about socio-demographic features of the students and their families, as well as food patterns and eating habits of students. Results: About 89.6%, 58.9% and 71% of students consumed bread/rice, vegetables and plant protein on daily basis; respectively. Fast foods and carbonated drinks were consumed on daily bases by 64.6% and 19.6% of students; respectively. Ab...