Dietary patterns, behaviours, and their associated factors among university students in coastal Kenya

Abstract

AbstractUnhealthy dietary habits are common among university students and are associated with increased incidence of lifestyle and chronic illnesses. There are few studies, if any, on university students’ dietary habits and patterns from the Kenyan setting. This study seeks to describe the dietary patterns, behaviours and knowledge/lifestyle choices among undergraduate university students in a university setting in coastal Kenya. We employed a cross-sectional study design with a sample of 72 undergraduate students at Pwani university, Kenya. Data was collected using a semi-structured food frequency questionnaire that also provided lifestyle and sociodemographic information and dietary patterns. All statistical analyses including descriptive analyses, inferential statistics using Z-tests, t-tests, chi-square tests and univariate and multivariable logistic regression. This study included students aged 18–26 years, most of whom were aged 21–24 years (59.7%), with a higher representation of females (67.6%). Most students reported having balanced diet (72.2%), embraced healthy lifestyle choices including no smoking (97.2%), no alcohol (84.7%), regular exercise (70.8%), own preparation of meals (57.0%), regularity in eating (45.8%), and had normal BMI status (69.4%). Most students reported being aware of what entails healthy nutrition (62.5%). There were notable differences in specific dietary behaviours including fruit and vegetable consumption, regularity in eating, consumption of balanced diet and dietary diversity. Such differences were associated with at least one of the following: BMI (OR = 0.72, p = 0.01), own meal preparation (OR = 4.60, p = 0.04) and snacking behaviours (OR = 11.4, p < 0.0001) after accounting for other variables in a logistic regression model. University students have a fair knowledge of nutritional requirements for diet and health; however, this does not necessarily translate to healthy food choices and dietary behaviours.

Keywords

• dietary behaviour
• university students
• nutrition status
• dietary choice
• nutrition knowledge
• Kenya