Nutrition Components and Eating Behaviors Among College Students

Purpose

The transition from high school to college poses many challenges for college students. Their newfound independence coupled with the social and physical environmental changes that occur may expose them to undesirable eating behaviors resulting in poor nutrition and subsequent weight gain (Racette, Deusinger, Strube, Highstein, & Deusinger, 2005). The goals of this study were to examine the 1) nutrition components of their food intake (including percentage of total calories from fat, number of grams of fiber intake per day, and number of servings of fruit and vegetables intake per day using a 17-item food frequency questionnaire [Thompson et al., 2004]) and 2) relationships between college students' eating behaviors (including how often students read food labels, whether students usually eat on their own, as well as the number of times in the past week students prepared their own meals, ate fast food, ate at campus dinning halls, had breakfast, and skipped meals) and the nutrition components.

Methods

In this study, 503 university students (M_age=19.58, SD_age=2.41; 64.41% female; 62.23% freshmen) completed questionnaires concerning their food intake and their eating behaviors during winter or spring terms 2008.

Analysis/Results

On average, students consumed 31.18% of their total calories from fat, 17.99 grams of fiber, and 4.46 servings of fruit and vegetables per day. Results of multiple regression analyses of the three nutrition components showed that percentage of intake from fat was predicted by how often students read food labels (beta weight [β]=-.19, p<.001), as well as the number of times per week they had breakfast (β=-.19, p<.001) and fast food (β=.16, p<.001); number of grams of fiber intake was predicted by the number of times per week they prepared their meals (β=.18, p<.001) and had breakfast (β=.15, p<.01); and the number of servings of fruits and vegetables was predicted by only the number of times per week they prepared their own meals (β=.15, p<.01). Conclusions

This study reinforces that university students' nutrition intake is less than ideal. Strategies that target positive eating behaviors among college students need to be identified. One idea within the health education curriculum is to place a stronger emphasis on the improvement of current dietary behaviors and the prevention of developing bad eating habits during the transition to university life. Collaboration with university food service organizations to promote nutrition education and healthier options are also recommended. Funded by the John C. Erkkila, M.D. Endowment for Health and Human Performance, Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation.