College students (416) in an introductory nutrition class were surveyed to determine how college students categorize foods and to establish the relationships between fat intake (3-day diet record), everyday food choices and fat practices (frequency survey), and fast-food use (attendance and food consumption). Factor analysis of everyday food choices resulted in five groupings, three high-fat and two low-fat. Males averaged 84 g fat/day (range 26-212); women 61 g fat/day (range 25-201). Fat intake was almost double for students with the highest fast-food attendance (97 g) compared to the lowest (50 g). Fast-food intake does not necessarily contribute a great amount of fat to the overall diet, but is predictive of a certain type of high-fat dietary pattern.
My gratitude is also extended to the Directors and students of the fifteen private schools in which the survey was conducted for their cooperation and participation. Acknowledgement is given to Judy Baker and the staff of the Forage iii Testing Laboratory at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for their assistance in the proximate analysis of the street food samples. Lastly, appreciation is felt for the encouragement, support and guidance given me by my parents throughout the project. I would especially like to acknowledge my mother, Dr. Elizabeth Hyatt for her invaluable assistance with the computer analysis of the survey data.
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