Dietary and Lifestyle Behaviors of the University Students Living Away from Their Home: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Dietary behaviors of the young population are affected by numerous factors. University study period also influences the lifestyle of students, including diet. The objective of this study was to explore dietary and lifestyle behaviors of Jordan University of Science and Technology (J.U.S.T.) students living away from their home. A convenient sample of 370 male students was recruited from different majors and academic years and with different socio-economic backgrounds. The sample size was calculated proportionally to the total number of university students. Participants filled out a self-reported questionnaire (included questions on eating and physical activity habits). Most participants spend around 51% of their financial income on food items. Statistical analysis of the available data shows that the general health in majority of the study sample is good. The psychological status of the participants has a significant direct effect on food intake. Results show that 71% of the study sample are not interested nor affected at all by books, internet, videos and magazines that portray food. In addition, fresh foods are predominantly consumed in both breakfast and lunch, while processed foods are more common in the dinner between 71% participants. Furthermore, consumption of snacks with discretionary calories is much higher that than of healthy snacks like fruits. It is recommended to plan and implement a nutritional intervention, extension and education programs which allow university students to improve their nutritional knowledge.

Keywords: Dietary behaviors, Lifestyle, University students, Diet, Cross-sectional study, J.U.S.T., Jordan.