Quality and eating habits of student population

Kvalitetna, zdrava i uravnotežena prehrana osnova je zdravlja i adekvatne kvalitete života. Sve viši udjeli industrijski procesuirane hrane bogate nezdravim mastima i s visokim udjelima šećera uzrokuju pojavu pretilosti, a time i rizike za cjelokupno zdravstveno stanje čovjeka, posebice u pogledu rizika od razvoja dijabetesa i kardiovaskularnih bolesti. Zbog važnosti kvalitetne i pravilne prehrane u životu svakog čovjeka, kao predmet istraživanja rada je odabrana ishrana studenata i prehrambene navike. Cilj istraživanja je bio utvrditi postoji li statistički značajna veza između kvalitete ishrane i prehrambenih navika te BMI indeksa ispitanika. Provedeno je istraživanje na uzorku od N=163 ispitanika kako bi se utvrdilo kakva je kvaliteta ishrane te prehrambene navike studenata. Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da broj obroka i konzumacija „brze hrane“ koja se uglavnom priprema dubokim prženjem statistički značajno utječu na BMI indeks u smislu povećanja rizika od pretilosti. Vezano uz broj obroka, manju sklonost pretilosti su imali ispitanici koji konzumiraju veći broj manjih obroka dnevno.Healthy and balanced nutrition is the basis of health and adequate quality of life. Increasing proportions of industrially processed foods rich in unhealthy fats and high in sugar cause obesity, and thus risks to overall human health, especially in terms of the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Due to the importance of quality and proper nutrition in the life of every person, the subject of research was the students’ nutrition and nutritive habits. The aim of the study was to determine whether there is a statistically significant relationship between dietary quality and eating habits and the BMI index of respondents. A survey was conducted on a sample of N = 163 respondents to determine the quality of nutrition and eating habits of students. The results of the study showed that the number of meals and consumption of "fast food", which is mainly prepared by deep-frying, has a statistically significant effect on the BMI index in terms of increasing the risk of obesity. Regarding the number of meals, respondents who consumed a larger number of smaller meals per day had a lower propensity for obesity