A Study to Assess the Effect of Food Consumption Pattern on Health Status among Nursing Students at Dinsha Patel College of Nursing, Nadiad

Abstract

College students are at risk for making poor dietary choices that can cause significant health problems. A descriptive study was conducted to assess the effect of food consumption pattern on health status among nursing students at Dinsha Patel College of Nursing, Nadiad. A sample of 101students was selected by systematic random sampling technique. Five point Likert Scale was used to assess the food consumption pattern. The data was analyzed by using the descriptive and inferential statistics. The result of present study reveals 50(49%) students have more than 11 g/dl hemoglobin level, 56(55%) students are underweight, 73(72 %) students believes that they are taking balance diet. There is a statistically significant association with the perception regarding balanced diet and food consumption pattern and no significant association with other socio demographic variables such as age, sex, education, BMI, Hemoglobin level, religion, eating habits, residential status. The result shows 37(36.6%) students had unhealthy, 44(43.5%) students had average healthy, 19(18.8%) students had healthy diet pattern The study concluded that there is a need for health education programs that promote healthy food consumption pattern for nursing students.