Introduction: Milk and dairy products are an important component of a balanced diet. Deficiency of milk and dairy products contributes to the violation of the main health indicators of various age groups of the population.
The purpose of the study: analysis of the frequency of consumption of various groups of dairy products by students
Materials and methods: 388 full-time students of the Medical Institute of the Russian University of Peoples' Friendship RUDN University took part in the cross-sectional study, of which 185 were men and 203 were women, the average age was 20.4+2.2 and 21.9+1.7 years, respectively. . Anthropometric measurements were performed according to the standard program. The frequency of consumption of various groups of dairy products was studied using a modified questionnaire on the frequency of consumption of products.
Results: analysis of the questionnaire on the frequency of consumption of products, it have been demonstrated that approximately 16% of the respondents did not consume milk over the past month, about a third - cottage cheese, 22% - natural sour-milk products and 18% - sour-milk products with various fillers; hard cheeses and pickled cheeses are not used by 9% and 26% of respondents, respectively. 11% of respondents drink milk daily, 5% consume cottage cheese daily, 4% and 1% - fermented milk products, natural and with fillers, hard cheese -4%. Gender differences in the characteristics of consumer preferences were revealed, girls are less likely to use cream, sour cream, soft cheese, milk, which is obvious. Among girls, the prevalence of persons with overweight was higher and amounted to 25% (50 students), than among boys - 19% (35 students). A modest inverse relationship was found between daily milk intake and body weight and between milk intake and BMI (r=-0.61 and r=-0.65).
Conclusions: among students, insufficient consumption of milk and dairy products was revealed, the relationship between the frequency of their consumption and indicators of physical development was noted.