Association between dietary patterns and sociodemographics: A cross‐sectional study of Australian nursing students

Abstract

Lack of time, financial issues, and stressful clinical and educational environments in nursing studies promote higher intakes of convenience and fast foods loaded with fat and sugar, which are linked to reduced mental and physical health. In this study, we examined the dietary patterns of nursing students and their associated sociodemographic factors to inform the development of future health‐promotion interventions. A total of 548 Bachelor of Nursing students were invited to complete a survey. Associations were explored using χ2 and logistic regression. Three dietary patterns were identified: healthy (fruit, vegetables, and legumes), Western (loaded with fat, sugar, and salt), and unbalanced. Only 21% of participants were classified as following a healthy dietary pattern, and more likely to be older (>35 years old) and have a personal annual income between $AUD20 000–$59 999 and $60 000–$99 999. Students with one to two and three or more children were more likely to follow a Western dietary pattern. There is a need to develop interventions to improve the dietary behaviors of nursing students by health‐promoting activities and the provision of online health resources.

Barriers to healthy lifestyle behaviors in Australian nursing students: A qualitative study

“…A study of nursing students living in a major Australian city found a majority had low intakes of fruit and vegetables and high alcohol intakes, but most met current guidelines for physical activity (Perry, Gallagher, & Duffield, 2015). A recent study conducted by the authors of this report also found that most nursing students follow an unhealthy diet (high in fast food and junk foods), but most of the nursing students in the study were not meeting physical activity guidelines and had poor sleep quality (Binks, Vincent, Irwin, Williams, & Khalesi, 2020;Williams et al, 2019). These findings are supported by previous international studies that have reported high levels of physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol intake, junk food consumption, caffeine intake, and poor sleep behaviors in nursing students (Al-Kandari, Vidal, & Thomas, 2008;Borle, Parande, Tapare, Kamble, & Bulakh, 2017;Burke & McCarthy, 2011;Deasy et al, 2014;Nassar & Shaheen, 2014;Rodríguez-Gázquez et al, 2016;Urasaki et al, 2009).…”

Associations between health‐related quality of life and health behaviors in Australian nursing students

“…Using a cross‐sectional study design, bachelor of nursing (BN) students from two universities (one regional and one metropolitan university) in Queensland, Australia, were invited to complete an online survey. A more detailed description of the study methodology has been described elsewhere (Binks et al, 2021; Williams et al, 2020). Briefly, the SurveyMonkey (SurveyMonkey Inc. San Mateo, California, USA, http://www.surveymonkey.com/) platform was used for data collection.…”

“…Nutrition behaviors were reported as dietary patterns, food groups (based on classifications outlined in the Australian Dietary Guidelines [National Health and Medical Research Council, 2013]), energy and nutrient intake, and meal frequency (breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, bedtime snack). The assessment method for dietary patterns has been described in detail elsewhere (Williams et al, 2020). Briefly, dietary patterns were derived using factor analysis with principal component and varimax rotation following cluster analysis of food items.…”

“…Psychological distress in students can negatively impact academic performance, retention in tertiary programs, mental health, lifestyle choices, and patient outcomes, with the impact on overall HRQoL having also been explored in several studies (Deasy et al, 2016; Ribeiro et al, 2018). Nursing programs have witnessed increased enrollment of nontraditional student, with many commencing students now being older than 21 years, married with children, and working part‐ or full‐time (Villeneuve et al, 2018; Williams et al, 2020). The elevated demands and level of responsibility these students face may increase stress, and together with time pressure can lead to poor lifestyle decisions.…”

Finnish adolescents' perceptions of their health choices: A qualitative study

“…Compared to behavioral theories and models of individual theories (Opalinski et al, 2018; Short & Mollborn, 2015), the health choices approach emphasizes their agency and their individual opportunities to influence and control their decision‐making (Ivanitskii, 2016; Moilanen, Pietilä, Coffey, Sinikallio, & Kangasniemi, 2018; Paternoster & Pogarsky, 2009). For example, in recent years attention has been paid to adolescents' particular health choices in areas such as dietary patterns (Tebar et al, 2020; Williams et al, 2020), exercise (Matud & Díaz, 2020), and smoking (Ho et al, 2020; Veronda et al, 2020), and their associations with background factors and health. However, little is known about adolescents' perceptions of their health choices and how they make them.…”