COMPARISON OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS BETWEEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS LIVING AT DORMITORY AND STUDENTS LIVING AT HOME.

Background: Transitioning into college can pose as an important challenge to a student?s eating behaviors. The present study aim was to compare nutritional patterns between dormitory and non-dormitory female students in Taibah university, in Saudi Arabia also to assess the nutritional conditions of these students. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted among three hundred and two female undergraduate students at Taibah university, ages 18?22 years. One hundred and forty-seven of them have being lived in dormitory, as well as one hundred and fifty-five live with their families. Participants completed a self-administered three-day food record (FR) in addition to a structured questionnaire that included questions on socio-demographic characteristics, dietary habits, and physical activities. Also, anthropometric measurements were obtained. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistical package (version 22.0) and the level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: The results of this study showed that ninety one percent of the female students living at university dorms changed their dietary habits after joined to the university compared to fifty-six percent of the female students living at home with their families (p