Dietary and lifestyle habits of students at University of Osijek

Prehrambene i životne navike studenata smatraju se uzročnicima mnogih bolesti koje se manifestiraju kroz kasnije godine života. Period obrazovanja smatra se ključnim za razvoj poželjnih prehrambenih i drugih životnih navika koje se povezuju sa zdravljem, kao što su tjelesna aktivnost, konzumiranje alkohola i pušenje, koje se vjerojatno neće značajnije mijenjati kasnije u životu. Mlade osobe često podcjenjuju utjecaj prehrambenih i životnih navika na zdravlje, te samim time ne pridaju preveliku važnost odabiru namirnica. Cilj rada bio je ispitati prehrambene i životne navike studenata Sveučilišta u Osijeku, te je u tu svrhu formiran upitnik koji su ispitanici ispunjavali anonimno na svojim matičnim fakultetima. Vršila se uporedba svih ispitanika ovisno o spolu i ovisno o obrazovanju. Izračunat je indeks mase tijela preko samoprocjenjene tjelesne mase i visine. Prosječne vrijednosti BMI za muškarce iznosi 24,7 kg/m2 i 20,9 kg/m2 za žene, no 21,5% studenata ima prekomjernu tjelesnu masu. 30,1% studenata konzumira manje od 3 obroka dnevno, a najčešće preskakivan obrok je doručak. Trećina studentske populacije nikad ne konzumira ribu, primjećen je i neadekvatan unos voća i povrća. Znanje o prehrani stečeno obrazovanjem nije rezultiralo pravilnijim prehrambenim navikama, tako studenti kod kojih se očekuje znanje o važnosti prehrane češće preskaču obroke.Dietary and lifestyle habits of students can be linked to many chronic diseases that are manifested later in life. Education period is crucial in development of adequate dietary habits and lifestyles that can be linked with health, such as physical activity, alcohol intake and smoking, that are unlikely to change later on in life. Young adults often underestimate importance of dietary and life habits on health, and don’t pay much attention to food selection. Objective was to determine dietary and lifestyle habits of students at University of Osijek, and an anonymous questionnaire was formed for this purpose that participants completed on their colleges. Comparison of all participants according to gender and education was performed. Body mass index was calculated from self-reported height and weight. Average value of BMI for male is 24,7 kg/m2, and 20,9 kg/m2 for female students, yet 21,5% of student body is overweight. 30,1% of students have less than 3 meals a day, and most likely to skip is breakfast. One third of student population never consumes fish, and fruit and vegetable intake is also inadequate. Knowledge on nutrition did not result in healthier dietary habits, students with such knowledge more often skipped meals