Abstract :

Background: Undernutrition is most critical health challenges facing society today, not just in terms of health, but also health care expense. Several studies have revealed that college students often have bad eating habits. Students typically consume less fruits and vegetables per day and report a high intake of high-fat, high-calorie items.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess nutritional status and dietary habits of students studying in university.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a sample of post graduate students with the sample size of 57. A well-structured interview schedule was used for data collection regarding socio demographic data, nutritional status and dietary profile. Results and Discussion: Outcome of the results indicated that majority of them were belonged to the age category of 21-25 years, stayed in hostel, had one sibling and were middle class families. Around 50.6 % of college students were within the healthy Body Mass Index range. Most students showed ‘satisfactory’ dietary habits. Almost more than half of the students reported consuming good amounts of fruits, vegetables, milk and nuts daily. Only 8.8 % of students were eating non-vegetarian daily.

Conclusion: Around 50% of college students, particularly females, were within the range of good nutritional status. Students’ dietary habits were satisfactory. However, students’ knowledge of good diet habits, and nutritional knowledge needs to be improvement. This study offers new insight for formulating policies and intervention programs among college students in the future.

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Keywords :

Adolescence, Dietary pattern, Health Status., Malnutrition, Nutritional Assessment, Nutritional Status, Undernutrition

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