Food consumption, lifestyle patterns, and body mass index of a group of white South African students

Abstract

There is worldwide concern that higher education students are increasingly engaging in unhealthy eating and lifestyle practices. A total of 488 white students participated in a study aimed at investigating the current food consumption and related lifestyle patterns of students at a South African residential university. The respondents’ self‐reported weight and height was used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). Closed and open‐ended questions measured aspects of the respondents’ usual eating patterns and lifestyles. The meal patterns and composition confirmed Western‐orientated food practices, as the majority consumed three meals a day, with in‐between meal snacking, and a different meal pattern over weekends. Respondents’ food intake was further characterized by a low intake of fruit, vegetables, and dairy products and frequent consumption of foods high in fat, sugar, and sodium. Although the majority (66.8%) of the study group were classified as normal weight according to their BMI, when comparing males and females, more males than females were overweight and obese. Only 54% of the males had a normal weight compared to 82% of the females. There was, however, no statistically significant difference (p = 0.149) between how males and females in the different BMI groups felt about their weight. The study also explored the relationships between the respondents’ BMI, gender, food consumption patterns, and type of residence. The features of the food consumption patterns were depicted according to whether breakfast was eaten or not; snacking activity between meals; the consumption of ready‐prepared convenience meals, fast foods; home‐cooked meals; and eating out. There were no statistical significant differences between the BMI categories of males and females regarding their habit to eat breakfast or not; and to snack between meals either during the morning, in the afternoon or after supper. Similarly, no statistical significant differences were noted when relating the BMI categories of the gender groups to the frequency of consumption of ready‐prepared, convenience type meals, fast foods, and home‐cooked meals. However, a statistical significant difference (p‐value 0.006) was found between BMI categories per gender and general frequency of eating out. No statistical differences was noted between BMI categories, gender and place of residence irrespective of the type, whether the student lived with parents, independently in a flat or apartment, or a house with friends or a room, or in a university residence.

Vegetable Consumption and Factors Associated with Increased Intake among College Students: A Scoping Review of the Last 10 Years

“…The most usual instrument for assessing food consumption was the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), used by twenty-eight studies [19,21,23,27,32,34,37,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60]. Two of them combined the FFQ with 24-h recalls [27,59].…”

“…One study [45] only considered salad and raw vegetables in their analysis. Four studies divided vegetables into different categories: green, yellow, other vegetables, and salads [60], sautéed leafy greens, leafy greens, nonleafy cooked vegetables and nonleafy raw vegetables [21]; fresh, frozen, canned and stewed [22]; and fresh, tinned, legumes and potatoes [29]. Finally, eight studies included different forms of vegetables to create a single variable in their analyses: green-, red- or yellow-coloured vegetables [64]; vegetables without tubers, roots and bananas [48], fresh, canned or juice [25]; vegetables and juices [85]; raw, cooked, canned or frozen [77]; coloured and other types of vegetables, mushrooms and sea vegetables [63]; fresh, cooked or frozen, as well as green salad and did not count potatoes [31]; and vegetable side dishes or salads [32].…”

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Patterns and Risk of Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle among University Students in Kenya

“…In a South African university, more males were found to be more overweight (35.3%) than obese (6.0%), when in comparison, females had a lower prevalence of overweight (7.1%) and obesity (1.4%) [ 44 ]. A survey in another South African university showed a similar trend, where more males (41%) were overweight or obese in comparison with females (25%) [ 45 ].…”

Satisfaction with food-related life and life satisfaction: a triadic analysis in dual-earner families

“…Food is one of the domains related to life satisfaction, and satisfaction with food-related life has been shown to be positively associated with life satisfaction 19,20 . Recent studies involving adolescents 13,14,21,22,23,24 , young adults 5,6 , adults 14,25 and older adults 4 provide evidence supporting this relationship among individuals. However, individuals involved in reciprocal relationships influence each other's thoughts, emotions 26,27 and also eating habits, as has been reported among members of the same family 6,28 .…”