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dc.contributor.authorSprake, Eleanor
dc.contributor.authorRussell, J
dc.contributor.authorCecil, J. E.
dc.contributor.authorCooper, R.
dc.contributor.authorGrabowski, P.
dc.contributor.authorPourshahidi, L.
dc.contributor.authorBarker, M. E.
dc.date.accessioned2018-10-05T12:30:06Z
dc.date.available2018-10-05T12:30:06Z
dc.date.issued2018-10-05
dc.identifier.citationSprake , E , Russell , J , Cecil , J E , Cooper , R , Grabowski , P , Pourshahidi , L & Barker , M E 2018 , ' Dietary patterns of university students in the UK: a multi-centre, cross-sectional study ' , Nutrition Journal , vol. 17 , 90 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-018-0398-yen
dc.identifier.otherPURE: 252973990
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: d546bc03-9d94-4fa8-b191-a348b0846c6c
dc.identifier.otherScopus: 85054462231
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0003-4779-6037/work/60196863
dc.identifier.otherWOS: 000446512200001
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/16151
dc.descriptionThis study was conducted as part of EFS’s PhD project. The University of Sheffield was its sponsor.en
dc.description.abstractBackground: University represents a key transition into adulthood for many adolescents but there are associated concerns about health and behaviours. One important aspect relates to diet and there is emerging evidence that university students may consume poor quality diets, with potential implications for body weight and long-term health. This research aimed to characterise dietary patterns of university students in the UK and their sociodemographic and lifestyle antecedents. Methods: An online, cross-sectional survey was undertaken with a convenience sample of 1448 university students from five UK universities (King’s College London, Universities of St Andrews, Southampton and Sheffield, and Ulster University). The survey comprised a validated food frequency questionnaire alongside lifestyle and sociodemographic questions. Dietary patterns were generated from food frequency intake data using principal components analysis. Nutrient intakes were estimated to characterise the nutrient profile of each dietary pattern. Associations with sociodemographic variables were assessed through general linear modelling. Results: Dietary analyses revealed four major dietary patterns: ‘vegetarian’; ‘snacking’; ‘health-conscious’; and ‘convenience, red meat & alcohol’. The ‘health-conscious’ pattern had the most favourable micronutrient profile. Students’ gender, age, year of study, geographical location and cooking ability were associated with differences in pattern behaviour. Female students favoured the ‘vegetarian’ pattern, whilst male students preferred the ‘convenience, red meat & alcohol’ pattern. Less healthful dietary patterns were positively associated with lifestyle risk factors such as smoking, low physical activity and take-away consumption. The health-conscious pattern had greatest nutrient density. The ‘convenience, red meat & alcohol’ pattern was associated with higher weekly food spending; this pattern was also identified most consistently across universities. Students reporting greater cooking ability tended towards the ‘vegetarian’ and ‘health-conscious’ patterns. Conclusions: Food intake varied amongst university students. A substantial proportion of students followed health-promoting diets, which had good nutrient profiles obviating a need for dietary intervention. However, some students consumed poor diets, incurred greater food costs and practised unfavourable lifestyle behaviours, which may have long-term health effects. University policy to improve students’ diets should incorporate efforts to promote student engagement in cooking and food preparation, and increased availability of low cost healthier food items.
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofNutrition Journalen
dc.rights© The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.en
dc.subjectFood consumptionen
dc.subjectPrincipal components analysisen
dc.subjectSurveyen
dc.subjectUniversity studentsen
dc.subjectRA Public aspects of medicineen
dc.subjectNDASen
dc.subject.lccRAen
dc.titleDietary patterns of university students in the UK: a multi-centre, cross-sectional studyen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.description.versionPublisher PDFen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Population and Behavioural Science Divisionen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Health Psychologyen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Medicineen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-018-0398-y
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden


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