Dietary Intake and Associated Body Weight in Canadian Undergraduate Students Enrolled in Nutrition Education

ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of this study was to describe dietary intakes among Canadian undergraduate students enrolled in an Introductory Nutrition course. A secondary objective was to determine food group servings associated with meeting more Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) of select nutrients and with a lower body mass index (BMI). Participants (n = 124, 20.7±3.2yrs) provided output from a 3-day dietary record and completed a physical activity/demographics questionnaire. Linear regression showed that the dietary intake associated with meeting the most DRIs included vegetables, fruits, protein foods, and dairy (p = 0.001). Protein foods were a positive predictor and fruit a negative predictor of BMI (p = 0.001 and p = 0.023 respectively). Males consumed more grains (p = 0.001), dairy (p = 0.04), protein foods (p < 0.001), empty calories (p = 0.007) and total calories than females (p < 0.001). A diet characterized by greater intake of vegetables, fruits, protein foods, and dairy was associated with a Canadian undergraduate population meeting the greatest number of nutrient requirements.

KEYWORDS:

• Body mass index
• Dietary Reference Intake(s)
• food group serving(s)
• nutritional requirement(s)
• university students

Acknowledgments

This study received ethical approval by the Conjoint Health Ethics Research Board at the University of Calgary (Ethics ID# E-24898) and Mount Royal University.

Funding

This work was funded through an internal grant from the University of Calgary.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded through an internal grant from the University of Calgary.