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.
Keywords :
Adolescence, Dietary pattern, Health Status., Malnutrition, Nutritional Assessment, Nutritional Status, UndernutritionReferences :
- Alkazemi, D. (2019). Gender differences in weight status, dietary habits, and health attitudes among college students in Kuwait: A cross-sectional study. Nutrition and Health, 25(2), 75-84.
- Anitha, R. (2022). Nature, Prevalence, and Impact of Undernutrition on Intelligence Among School Children: A Cross-Sectional Study from South India. ECS Transactions, 107(1), 637.
- Bede, F., Cumber, S. N., Nkfusai, C. N., Venyuy, M. A., Ijang, Y. P., Wepngong, E. N., & Kien, A. T. N. (2020). Dietary habits and nutritional status of medical school students: the case of three state universities in Cameroon. The Pan African Medical Journal, 35.
- Blaabaek, E. H., Jaeger, M. M., and Molitoris, J. (2019). Family size and educational attainment: Cousins, Contexts, and Compensation. European Journal of Population, 1-26.
- Boucher, D., Gagné, C., & Côté, F. (2015). Effect of an intervention mapping approach to promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables among young adults in junior college: A quasi-experimental study. Psychology & health, 30(11), 1306-1325.
- Chakravarty, M., Venugopal, R., Chakraborty, A., Mehta, S. K., & Varoda, A. (2022). A study of nutritional status and prevalence of anaemia among the adolescent girls and women of reproductive age of baigatribe accessing antenatal clinic in public health sector in Chhattisgarh, India. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology, 15(2), 598-604.
- Ghosh, S., and Varerkar, S. A. (2019). Undernutrition among tribal children in Palghar District, Maharashtra, India. PloS one, 14 (2).
- Ghosh, S., Ghosh, T., Dutta Chowdhury, S., Wrotniak, B. H., and Chandra, A. M. (2016). Factors associated with the development of motor proficiency in school children of Kolkata: A cross‐sectional study to assess the role of chronic nutritional and socio‐economic status. Developmental psychobiology, 58 (6), 734-744.
- Joy, M. A. (2018). Adolescence–Issues and Challenges for Health and Nutrition., International Education & Research Journal [IERJ], 4(8), 43-47, E-ISSN No : 2454-9916.
- Knol, L. L., Robb, C. A., McKinley, E. M., & Wood, M. (2019). Very low food security status is related to lower cooking self-efficacy and less frequent food preparation behaviours among college students. Journal of nutrition education and behaviour, 51(3), 357-363.
- Omage, K., and Omuemu, V. O. (2018). Assessment of dietary pattern and nutritional status of undergraduate students in a private university in southern Nigeria. Food science and nutrition, 6 (7), 1890-1897.
- Pal, A., Pari, A. K., Sinha, A., & Dhara, P. C. (2017). Prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors: A cross-sectional study among rural adolescents in West Bengal, India. International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 4(1), 9-18.
- Raajeswari, Pa., Subapriya, M. S., & Anitha, R. (2022). Prevalence of Severe Acute Malnutrition Among Under Five Children in Selected Tribal Population: Malnutrition among tribal children. Journal of Food and Dietetics Research, 2(2), 8-15.
- Rah, J. H., Chalasani, S., Oddo, V. M., & Sethi, V. (2017). Adolescent Health and Nutrition. Nutrition and Health in a Developing World, 559-577.
- Saidu, K. A., and Ali, H. M. (2019). Perceived Effect of Households’ Socio-economic Variables on the Academic Performance of Junior Secondary School Students in CCA in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.International Journal of Science, Technology and Society, 7 (6), 87.
- Yu Z, Tan M. (2016). Disordered Eating Behaviours and Food Addiction among Nutrition Major College Students. Nutrients, 8(11), 673.