The Healthfulness of Entrées and Students’ Purchases in the Campus Dining Environment

The purpose of this study is to determine the availability of “more” versus “less healthful” entrée items in the campus dining environment and also to determine if students’ purchases are reflective of what is offered. Entrée items were categorized as either “more” or “less healthful” according to the American Heart Association guidelines. Students’ entrée purchases from the 2014- 2015 school year were analyzed at a Midwestern university. The relationship between students’ demographics and food purchases was also analyzed in this observational study. Significant differences between more healthful and less healthful purchased and available items were determined using a Chi-square test. A Chi-square test was also used to determine if the proportion of purchased more healthful and less healthful entrées differed between the fall and spring semesters. Logistic regression was used to determine the effect of demographics on more healthful and less healthful purchases in the fall versus spring semesters. The majority of the entrée items available in the campus dining environment were considered less healthful (85.04%) while only a small percentage were considered more healthful (14.95%). The purchased entrée items significantly differed from what was available in both the fall (X2 = 14,028.40, df = 1, pThe campus dining environment consisted of primarily less healthful entrées and students’ purchases were primarily less healthful. Future research ought to work with campus dining providers to create profitable, yet healthful, campus dining environments. Obesity prevention efforts at the college level should start immediately in the fall and emphasize improving males’ dietary intake