Dietary Habits, Perceptions and Barriers Among Government and Private College Intermediate Students in Karachi: A Cross-Sectional Survey (original) (raw)

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.

Impact of Dietary Habits on Health Status of College Going Students in Punjab

Humanities and social sciences, 2021

Purpose of the study: The core objective of this study was to analyze the effect of dietary habits on the health status of college-going students. Methodology: Two districts of Punjab were selected randomly namely Faisalabad and Rahim Yar Khan. Two public sector colleges were selected purposively from each district i.e. one male and one female keeping in mind low strength and high strength were selected. The population of these colleges was 5372 while the sample size was 189. A well-structured questionnaire was developed on a google form. Collected data were processed through SPSS software for standard deviation, frequency, mean, and weighted score, and rank order. Main Findings: It was found that most of the respondents were female students and the majority of the student’s family monthly income was Rs. 10,000 – 20,000. The majority of the respondents were not suffering from any disease. The majority of respondents were those who have never eaten snacks in between their meals. Resp...

Dietary habits and life style among the students of a private Medical University Karachi

To determine the dietary habits and life style of the students of a private medical university in Karachi. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Baqai Medical University, from August 2005 to September 2005. A total of 384 medical students from the batches of 2002 to 2005 participated in this study. A pre-tested semi structured questionnaire was self administered to the students after taking their consent. The data included sociodemographic characteristics, life style, exercise, dietary habits and family history of diabetes mellitus. The collected data was analyzed by statistical program SPSS version 11. Results: Out of the total participants, 53.4% were male and 46.6% were female students. The mean age was 20 ± 1.58 years. The average income of the household of students was 50,000 Pakistani rupees per month. Only 7% students were tobacco users. About 33% students had a history of diabetes mellitus among their parents. Nearly ninety-seven percent reported consumption of junk food while 60% reported use of whole grain food in their diet. Seventy percent students walked 30 minutes and 47% exercised daily. According to the body mass index, 58.3% students were of normal weight and 41.7% were overweight. No significant difference was found among male and female students when dietary habits and life style were compared by sex. Junk food and soft-drink consumption was associated with being overweight. Eating whole grain food and doing exercise showed a protective association against overweight. Conclusion: Unhealthy lifestyle and poor dietary habits were highly prevalent in the overweight study population. Type-2 diabetes mellitus was common among parents and grandparents of the students making them prone to this disorder. Our study concluded that dietary and exercise counselling is necessary as a preventive strategy (JPMA 59:98; 2009).

Assessment of lifestyle and eating habits among undergraduate students in Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia

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.

Assessment of dietary behavior of high school students of an urban setting in Pakistan

International journal of health sciences, 2016

Exposure to energy dense foods increases the risk of obesity and non communicable disease in adult life. We conducted this study to assess the dietary behavior among class six to ten school students of government and private schools in Pakistan. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a sub district of Hyderabad, Pakistan using a questionnaire to measure food frequency by interviewing them through a recall method. A total of 504 male and female students of 6-10 grades were selected by simple random sampling method. We found that 83% children did not bring lunch from home to school and 44% ate at a fast food outlet during the school time. We also found that 31% schools allowed some food chain restaurant to sell fast food to students during recess hours and schools took their students to such restaurants for fun and eating trips for on an average of 1.8±0.8 times a week. More than half of the students ate breakfast and lunch at home less than three times a week. We also found that...

Exploring Factors Affecting Dietary Habits Of Mansoura University Students

2016

Background: Dietary habits frequently become worse during university and young adulthood. Unhealthy diets are linked with numerous chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers, overweight and obesity. Many factors affect young adult's dietary pattern and food choice that could be either internal or external. Internal factors are those that reside within individual and subject to their direct control including knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, self-efficacy, expectations and skills. External factors are those that out of individual control and related to the external food environment. Assessing these factors can work as a direction for steps to improve eating habits Aim: To investigate factors influencing dietary habits of Mansoura university students. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among (607) students and (17) food courts within Mansoura University, Egypt, from March to June 2014. Results: Revealed that unsatisfa...

Nutritional Status among a Sample of Saudi College Students

Nutritional habits and health behaviors have been a major concern for public health, especially among vulnerable groups such as teenage and college students. This study aims to assess nutritional status of a sample of Saudi college students and their dietary behaviors. A multi-stage sample was obtained from a private college in the northwestern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Descriptive statistics was used to assess the frequency of some nutritional habits and their correlation to Body Mass Index (BMI). The results show that overweight and obese subjects represented 22.6 and 11.6% of the students respectively, compared to 13.7% for underweight subjects. Twenty five percent of male and 20.3% of female students were overweight while 16.7% of male and 6.7% of female students were obese. There was a statistical significant difference between males and females in relation to the mean weight and height (p<0.001) and BMI (p<0.05). Approximately 15.7% of the subjects skip their breakfast daily. Both males (50%) and females (45.9%) used to eat their meals irregularly. More than 58% of the students stated that they consume fast foods, the proportion of females was more (64.9%) than the males (51.4%) and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). A relatively small percentage (21.2%) of students reported not eating burgers and a majority of respondents 61% preferred regular size burgers. However, the tendency to eat large size burgers was more pronounced among males than females (p<0.05). A regular portion size of potato chips was preferred by 61% of the students, among them 24.3% were females and 11.1% were males (p<0.01). There was a wide range of preferences for consumption of different foods among participants. Females showed a higher rate in the consumption of sweets and chocolates on daily basis (28.4 and 29.7%, respectively) compared to males (18.1 and 16.6%, respectively) (p<0.05). Males were more prone to consume red meat (p<0.05) and fish (p<0.05) than females. It is recommended to further investigate the eating habits of college students in KSA and propose interventions to improve such habits.

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...

Eating Habits Among University Students

Eating habits are a major concern about the health status of university students. This study aimed to identify patterns of eating habits among university students. The nature of the study was quantitative in which data were gathered with a self-administered questionnaire encompassing questions on sociodemographics and eating habits, which were evaluated by students on a 3-point Likert Type Scale. The population was BS and M.Sc. Physical Education students aged 18-26, the sample was collected 200 from males and females students of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, using a simple random sampling technique. Overall results showed students have a variety of food every day (Sig. .000), Students take three-time meals regularly (Sig. .000). Similarly, results of most statements have been marked as highly significant (Sig. .000) which were encircled by students like, count of calories intake, take whole grain food, eating more when feeling stress, very strict on their meal timing, take balanced diet, habitual of taking tea, tried to fad diets and so on. It is recommended that a balanced diet heaving on time has a substantial effect on student's health.

Association between Dietary Habits and Body Mass Index to Female Students College Sciences and Arts Campus 1 at Khamis

2016

Background: In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), recent studies revealed increasing consump-tion of animal products and refined foods in the diet at the expense of vegetables and fruits. These dietary changes were accused of increasing the prevalence of both overweight and obesity ob-served among Saudi children, adolescences and adults in the last few decades. Objectives: The present study was a cross sectional study aimed at exploring the BMI distribution among students of college of Sciences and Arts for girls Khamis Mushayt Campus 1 at King Khalid University (KKU) and investigated how Dietary habits of students female affected body mass index (BMI). Methods: A total of 240 female students aged 18- 22 years were about 25 % from total students randomly chosen from college of Arts and Science Campus 1 at Khamis Mushayt, King Khalid University, KSA for the present study. A self-reported questionnaire about the student’s dietary habits was con-ducted and their body mass index (BMI) w...