Dietary Habits of Students in Bangladesh Agricultural University and their Association with Overweight and Obesity

Abstract

Purpose: The dietary habits of young adults have been affected; thus, overweight and obesity are increasingly being observed among the young. The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity on a sample of students from the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) and to examine their eating habits. Background: In the past year BAU has been experiencing a nutritional transition in food decisions from the everyday diet to the alimentation pattern. As a consequence, the dietary habits of young adults have been affected with progressive overweight and obesity .The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence on a sample of MS stidents from BAU and to look at their uptake habits. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 146 students were chosen randomly from the BAU throughout the JJ/2018 semester. With a 7 Days twenty four Hour Food frequency questionnaire where their Height, weight, dietary habits, Body mass index (BMI) were recorded. Statistical analyses were performed exploitation the Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer code (version 22.0) to determine overweight and obesity among students and to categorize uptake habits of food. Results: This study showed that the majority of the students (80.4%) were of normal weight (80.8% male students compared to 80% female students). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 9.1% and 2.3% respectively .In contrast, 15.0% female students were underweight as compared to 3.8% males. Eating habits of the students showed that the majority (61.4%) reported taking meals regularly. There was a colored vegetable and fruits were intake scarcity among students. A total of 30.5% reported daily intake of colored vegetables with gender differences (P=.003) (31.5% females vs. 29.2% males). These prevalence rates were greater in girls than boys. There were no clear associations observed between dietary habits and measures of overweight and obesity. Conclusion: The overall low prevalence of overweight and obesity in the studied sample, indicate that university students would possibly benefit from nutrition and health promotion program to improve student’s eating habits.  There is a Significant differences observed among food type and frequency of consumption.