Habits in healthy nutrition, obesity, alcohol, smoking, among students of the faculty of physical activity and recreation — ;

Abstract

Çitozi, R. & Bozo, Dh. (2014). Habits in healthy nutrition, obesity, alcohol, smoking, among students of the faculty of physical activity and recreation. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 9(Proc1), pp.S291-S299. The deep economic and social transformation that began in Albania in the early 1990s has brought about remarkable changes to the structure of its economy and the living standards of its people. As a consequence, the dietary habits of young adults have been affected; thus, overweight and obesity are increasingly being observed among the young. The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity on a sample of students from the Sports University of Tirana and to examine their eating habits. A cross-sectional survey of 80 students (57.5% male and 42.5% female), aged 18.46 years, were chosen randomly from the Sports University of Tirana (SUT) during October 2013. Students were asked to fill out a self-reported questionnaire that included questions on their eating, drinking and smoking habits. Also, their weight, height, and body mass index were measured. Body mass index (BMI) was used to assess students' weight status. This study showed that the majority of the students (78.88%) were of normal weight (73.7% male students compared to 82.6% female students). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was not common among male students compared to females (23.6% and 10.3% vs. 2.2% and 1.2%, respectively). In contrast, 5.9% female students were underweight as compared to 0.5% males. Eating habits of the students showed that the majority (70%) reported taking meals regularly. Healthier eating habits of female compared to male students in terms of daily breakfast intake are the same. 38.23% of female students reported eating breakfast daily compared to 45.65% of male students. Intake of colored vegetables and fruits was common among students. A total of 32.5% reported daily intake of colored vegetables with a small gender differences (32.35% females vs. 32.6% males). Alcohol intake to male students in terms of 2or 3 times per week was 2.17% and rarely 56.52%, while to females students was 2.94% and rarely 35.29%. Males at least 1 packet is 23.91% and rarely 15.21%, females at least 1 packet is 11.76% and rarely 5.88%. 70% of our students are never smoker. In spite of the overall low prevalence of overweight and obesity in the studied sample, results indicate that university of sport students would possibly benefit from a nutrition and health promotion program to reduce the tendency of overweight and obesity, especially among male students, and to improve students' eating habits.

Examining food intake and eating out of home patterns among university students

“…The levels of obesity reported in the present study are similar to published results from studies conducted among student populations in Albania [ 33 , 34 ].…”

Habits of healthy living in adults former athletes of federated competition in the modality of volleyball in the province of Jaen

“…According to this study, just over half of the women (54.4%) ate more than four meals a day, while this figure was reduced to 38.8% in men, who more frequently skipped breakfast, mid-morning meal or snack. These results presented are related to the responses reported by the sample of our study, as well as with other scientific research such as that carried out by Çitozi and Bozo (2014) at the University of Tirana, which stated that the eating habits of female students They are healthier than those of the students in terms of daily intake.…”