Characteristics Of Diet And Body Composition And Their Correlation Among College Students

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of body composition,eating habits and dietary nutrition in medical college students,and to explore the association between them,so as to provide a scientific guidance of reasonable diet in order to improve physical fitness of medical college students.Methods:Typical sampling method was used to recruit medical students from Wuhan university of science and technology.Body composition was measured by the H-Key350 body composition analyzer and the content of questionnaire included general characteristics,eating habits,food frequency and lifestyle behaviors.Information on dietary intake was obtained from self-reported food records for three consecutive days.Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the differences of categorical and continuous variables between genders.Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used to explore the association of eating habits,food frequency and dietary nutrition with body fat rates and muscle mass.Results:A total of 1,078 subjects were recruited in this study.We found that:(1)the current status of the medical students’body composition was not optimistic.The proportion of low body weight(BMI<18.5kg/m~2)accounted for 14.66%,and the percentage of overweight(BMI>23.9kg/m~2)and obesity(BMI>28.0kg/m~2)were15.12%and 5.47%,respectively;According to the evaluation standard of body fat percentage(BFP%),lower body fat(male:BFP%<14%,female:BFP%<17%)accounted for 10.97%,overweight(male:21%≤BFP%<25%,female:25%≤BFP%<30%)and obesity(male:BFP%≥25%,female:BFP%≥30%)accounted for 24.12%and 34.99%;The values of body fat mass,body fat percentage and visceral fat area of??girls were higher than that of boys,while the indexes of lean body mass,muscle mass,inorganic salt,protein were lower than boys.Recessive obesity and abdominal obesity accounted for 26.72%and 23.10%respectively,and the proportion of girls were higher than that of boys.Malnutrition percentage was 4.17%,and the proportion of boys was higher than that of girls.(2)Only 38.03%of medical students eat breakfast every day,79.21%of students eating late at night,students who eat no more than two meals a day accounted for 31.48%,and 85.53%of the students had dietary window longer than10 hours,the eating time was a later distribution of each day.(3)Medical students excited certain phenomena of cognitively restricted eating,emotional eating and uncontrolled eating habits,which were more serious in girls;(4)The daily energy,carbohydrate,and fat intake of medical students met the recommended standards of the Chinese Resident Dietary Guidelines,while the intake of protein,vitamins and minerals did not meet the standards.The daily intake of grains and cereals,livestock and poultry meat and vegetables were accounted for 40.25%,57.03%and 43.51%,and the rates of not eating aquatic products,milk and dairy products as well as fruits were 48.42%,11.75%and 13.79%.The proportion of never eating fried foods,sweets and sugary drinks were 23.49%,21.96%and 35.14%.(5)After adjusting for age,smoking,alcohol drinking,sleep quality,daily energy intake and exercise,multiple linear regression analysis showed that the body fat rate of girls were mainly affected by the frequency of intake of sugary drinks per week(β=1.205,P=0.032)and emotional eating habits(β=0.732,P=0.001).The body fat rate of boys was related to cognitively restricted eating(β=0.474,P=0.047).The factors that affect the proportion of muscle mass in girls included the frequency of intake of sugary drinks(β=-1.176,P=0.034)and emotional eating(β=-0.695,P=0.002).The factors that affect the proportion of muscle mass in boys included cognitively restrictive eating habits(β=-0.458,P=0.045).Conclusion:The content and distribution of body composition were imbalance in medical students.Overweight/obesity,underweight and girls’recessive obesity were obvious.Skipping breakfast and eating-late at night were existed in medical students,which leads to a prolonged eating window.The unhealthy eating behavior of girls were more serious than that of boys,and there was an unreasonable dietary structure,the intake of protein and micronutrients were not up to standard.The intake of sugary beverages,cognitively restricted eating habits,and emotional eating behavior had positive effects on body fat percentage,and negative impact for account of muscle content ratio.For the young college students,it is necessary to strengthen dietary guidance and correct unhealthy eating habits,so as to encourage college students to eat healthy and improve body composition,in order to enhance physical health.