Nutritional Behaviors and Perceived Barriers Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Batiha, Abdul-Monim

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v10n12p21

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 20 publications

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“…Food is essential for the health of human beings as it delivers energy and nutrients [27]. Every student should have access to information about nutritional requirements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary Practices and Barriers to Adherence to Healthy Eating among King Faisal University Students

Abdelhafez

Akhter

Al-Sultan

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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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.

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“…Food is essential for the health of human beings as it delivers energy and nutrients [27]. Every student should have access to information about nutritional requirements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary Practices and Barriers to Adherence to Healthy Eating among King Faisal University Students

Abdelhafez

Akhter

Al-Sultan

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Evaluation of Student Nutrition at the University

Rakhmanov

Богомолова

Piskarev

et al. 2022

PH&LE

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Introduction: Healthy eating is associated with maintaining and improving health and academic performance of students. Objectives: To assess the adequacy of nutrition of university students on school and non-school days. Materials and methods: We examined the diet of fifth and sixth-year students of a military university. On school days (Monday to Saturday), all the students had three meals a day at the university canteen, while on Sunday they had meals made in a hostel kitchen or elsewhere. In September to December, we analyzed one typical weekly canteen menu a month (n = 4) and students’ records (n = 50) of actual food consumption on the day off. We proceeded on the assumption that the absorption of mixed food was 85 %. Results: We estimated that energy expenditures of the students on school days were 3,172.1 ± 33.5 kcal/day, while their physical activity corresponded to labor intensity group 3 with the physical activity coefficient of 1.9. The only non-school day was characterized by the above parameters of physical activity equaling group 2 and 1.6, respectively. Energy expenditures and the energy value of food consumed generally corresponded to the principles of rational nutrition. Yet, the diet was not balanced in terms of percentage contribution of meals (breakfast – 27.7 %, lunch – 46.4 %, dinner – 25.9 %), the intake of proteins and carbohydrates (54.2 % higher and 19.0 % lower than the physiological requirement, respectively), and the ratio of animal to vegetable proteins (44.3 to 55.7 %). Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids provided 12.6 % and 7.5 % of the calorie intake with the norm of < 10 % and 10.0 %, respectively. We observed increased dietary consumption of vitamins B1, B2, PP (13.3 %, 94.4 %, 141.5 % higher than the recommended values) accompanied by a 31.4 % and 20.0 % lower intake of vitamins C and B6, respectively. The dietary mineral intake was characterized by an excessive consumption of sodium (60.6 %), potassium (43.4 %), phosphorus (138.4 %), copper (90.0 %), and zinc (29.2 %) with a deficiency of calcium, magnesium, and iron 40.4 %, 49.3 %, and 42.0 %, respectively). The calcium to phosphorus ratio was 1:2.8 against the appropriate ratio of 1-2:1. On non-school days, we observed a higher intake of fast digesting carbohydrates and saturated fatty acids and a lower dietary vitamin and mineral intake. Conclusions: We recommend assessment of student nutrition with account for absorption of nutrients following a preliminary estimation of daily energy expenditures establishing the level of physical activity.

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Nutritional Behaviors and Perceived Barriers Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cited by 2 publications

References 20 publications

Dietary Practices and Barriers to Adherence to Healthy Eating among King Faisal University Students

Dietary Practices and Barriers to Adherence to Healthy Eating among King Faisal University Students

Evaluation of Student Nutrition at the University

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