Eating pattern among adolescent female student, Applied Medical Sciences College, University of Hafr-Al Batin

Abstract

The college students, representing the young age population of community, for different reasons are prone to eat unhealthy foods and to have bad health habits during their college years which might affect their well-being and increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and coronary heart disease; like fast food consumption, lower vegetable and fruit intake in face of less physical activities and a lot of computer & TV watching hours. This study aimed to assess eating habits and patterns, factors affecting food choices and anthropometric measurements. Descriptive cross-sectional study method was followed. 230 students were included in the study. The findings revealed that 50.9% of the study sample were at age group (< 20 years), nearly half 48.7% were at a preparatory year. Results show also that 44.3% of the study sample don't take breakfast regularly; the most reported causes were not enough time at home 49% and that they don't prefer cafeteria food 24.6% nor there is no for a break in the timetable 21.6%. The results show that 53.04% had a normal BMI and 24.35% were overweight. The BMI had a significant relation with the consumption and snacking patterns among students (p = .000). So, there is a greater need for constructing educational programs to be directed to enhance the nutritional status of the university adolescent students.