Niba Loveline L, Atanga Mary B, Navti Lifoter K
1Department of Biochemistry, Catholic University of Cameroon (CATUC), Bamenda, P.O. Box 782, Cameroon.
Nutrition and Health Research Group (NHRG), Bamenda, Cameroon.
BMC Nutr. 2017 Jul 11;3:55. doi: 10.1186/s40795-017-0178-7. eCollection 2017.
The changeover from high school to university is characterized by the inability to make informed food choices and unhealthy eating habits. This study sets out to determine the prevalence of overweight/obesity, examine variations in dietary habits and assess the relationships between some dietary factors and overweight/obesity in university students.
University students ( = 906, mean age 21.4 ± 2.1 years) that included 434 males and 472 females were recruited using a simple random sampling technique from six departments in two universities in a cross sectional study in the North West Region of Cameroon. Weight and height were measured and body mass index calculated. Eating habits and weekly consumption of selected food items were self-reported by the students using a pre-tested questionnaire.
The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 24.6% and 2.2% respectively. A majority (60.7%) of the students had less than three meals a day. Also, 53.4% ate fried foods, 46.0% had sweets/chocolates and 39.5% had sugar sweetened beverages twice or more times in a week. Skipping/rarely having breakfast (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2-2.9) and having snacks in-between meals three or more times a day (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4-5.5) were associated with overweight/obesity after controlling for confounding variables. In addition, skipping/rarely having breakfast (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.5) independently predicted overweight/obesity in a model that included confounding variables and selected dietary behaviors.
The unhealthy eating habits exhibited by students in this study is worrying. Qualitative studies need to be carried out in the future to identify determinants (of Cameroon ethnicity) of poor eating habits in university students.
从高中过渡到大学的特点是无法做出明智的食物选择和养成不健康的饮食习惯。本研究旨在确定超重/肥胖的患病率，研究饮食习惯的差异，并评估大学生中一些饮食因素与超重/肥胖之间的关系。
在喀麦隆西北地区的一项横断面研究中，采用简单随机抽样技术从两所大学的六个系招募了906名大学生（平均年龄21.4±2.1岁），其中包括434名男性和472名女性。测量体重和身高并计算体重指数。学生们使用预先测试的问卷自我报告饮食习惯和所选食品的每周消费量。
超重和肥胖的患病率分别为24.6%和2.2%。大多数（60.7%）学生每天用餐少于三次。此外，53.4%的学生食用油炸食品，46.0%的学生食用糖果/巧克力，39.5%的学生每周饮用两次或更多次含糖饮料。在控制混杂变量后，不吃/很少吃早餐（比值比1.8，95%置信区间1.2 - 2.9）和每天三餐之间吃三次或更多次零食（比值比2.2，95%置信区间1.4 - 5.5）与超重/肥胖有关。此外，在一个包括混杂变量和所选饮食行为的模型中，不吃/很少吃早餐（比值比2.2，95%置信区间1.3 - 3.5）独立预测超重/肥胖。
本研究中学生表现出的不健康饮食习惯令人担忧。未来需要进行定性研究，以确定大学生不良饮食习惯（喀麦隆族裔方面）的决定因素。
