Eating Habits and Dietary Intake: Is Adherence to Dietary Guidelines Associated with Importance of Healthy Eating among Undergraduate University Students in Finland?

Abstract

The results suggest high adherence to the guidelines mainly for 'unhealthy food' groups, and moderate adherence for healthier food groups. There was also accordance between regarding eating healthy as important and actually eating healthy. However, there are improvements to be considered for specific food groups, as well as gender differences when implementing public health strategies related to food intake.

Healthy and unhealthy eating amongst stressed students: considering the influence of mindfulness on eating choices and consumption

“…Overall, the current study supported the notion that eating in response to stress can be influenced by mindfulness (Hussein, Egan, & Mantzios, 2017;Jordan, Wang, Donatoni, & Meier, 2014;Marchiori & Papies, 2014). The findings suggest that universities should provide awareness on healthy eating by promoting mindfulness and mindful eating (Blotnicky, Mann, & Joy, 2015;El Ansari et al, 2015;Mantzios & Giannou, 2014;Pool, Delplanque, Coppin, & Sander, 2015). However, when mindfulness meditation is not working for an individual in the capacity of an audio file, the ability to explore and enhance other practices, such as mindfulness colouring books, is vital in assisting the enhancement of physiological and psychological health (Mantzios & Giannou, 2018; 118 health psychology report Krusche, Cyhlarova, King, & Williams, 2012).…”

“…With stress having the potential to make students vulnerable to becoming external eaters (i.e., responding to external cues rather than internal cues such as hunger -Nolan & Geliebter, 2012), and by consid-ering the barriers to healthy food choices amongst students (Beerman, Jennings, & Crawford, 1990), the need for interventions to increase students' awareness of eating has been highlighted (El Ansari, Suominen, & Samara, 2015). Students who are stressed and non-resilient display more problematic eating behaviours, where stress management tools could not only be used to relieve stress, but also decrease students' consumption of unhealthy foods (O'Connor, Armitage, & Ferguson, 2015).…”

Eating Habits and Standard Body Parameters Among Students at University of Banja Luka

“…Such dietary pattern is closely linked with weight gain in this population. Food preference and widespread availability of fast food are also contributing to negative eating environment surrounding young students (56). Various reasons are seen to be underlying in this respect: lack of available information on healthy food choices (57), financial side of the food issue -unhealthy food is readily available for less money than healthy food (58), students' financial status (59), as well as exposure to high level of stress among university students, particularly before exams (60).…”

Gender differences of cardiovascular risk

“…По данным исследования ЭССЕ, распространенность недостаточного потребления овощей и фруктов, а также соли у мужчин оказались более выраженными -50,3% и 54,2%, чем у женщин (36,2% и 47,1%) [7]. На примере финских студентов показано, что женщины более привержены к большинству товаров здорового питания по сравнению с мужчинами [22]. Использование средиземноморской диеты в качестве модели здорового питания в городе Квебек (Канада) показало, что мужчины лучше отвечали на изменение своих пищевых привычек.…”