Snacking Practices and Diet Choices Among College Students at a Large University in South Florida: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Other Scholarly Work
Kirchoff, Christie, Goico, Elizabeth, Palacios, Cristina. (2020). Snacking Practices and Diet Choices Among College Students at a Large University in South Florida: A Cross-Sectional Survey
. 4(Suppl 2), 713-713.
Kirchoff, Christie, Goico, Elizabeth, Palacios, Cristina. (2020). Snacking Practices and Diet Choices Among College Students at a Large University in South Florida: A Cross-Sectional Survey
. 4(Suppl 2), 713-713.
The college food environment plays an integral role in student dietary intake during the formative transition from adolescence to adulthood. During this time, students experience profound changes to their level of responsibility and autonomy while also establishing lifelong habits. These changes are of concern because obesity and chronic disease are the long term health consequences of poor patterns of eating, and yet research on this topic is sparse. This study aims to uncover the pattern of snack consumption and its influence on selecting healthier versions of snacks at a large Hispanic serving university in South Florida.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was used to elicit self-reported snacking practices of college students via a web-based Qualtrics survey in the Spring of 2019. Statistical analysis using SPSS 25 included descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis performed to examine the frequency and percentages for dependent and independent variables. Logistic regression was run to determine the influence of the frequency and amount of unhealthy snack food consumption and choosing low-fat options.
Results
Of the 483 respondents (24% males), 93.4% reported consuming unhealthy snack foods at least once a week. Additionally, the pattern of snack consumption was 72% (383) chips and salty snacks, 65% (316) cookies, 64% (307) chocolate bars, and 58% (281) candies. The results also indicated that those who consumed unhealthy snacks more frequently were 1.85 times more likely to choose low-fat options than those who rarely consumed unhealthy snacks (AOR = 1.85, CI (1.04 – 3.30)).
Conclusions
These findings suggest that students are seeking healthier options even when snacking. As a responsible institution, the university can implement a snack policy that promotes a healthy diet and is in line with what students are seeking by offering more low-fat options.
