Determinants of Healthy Eating: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background Despite the significant implications of healthy eating on overall long-term health, many university students engage in poor dietary habits, such as high intake of fast foods and other foods high in fat, and low intake of fruits and vegetables. Consumption patterns may be influenced by many factors, e.g. gender and living arrangements. The aim of the study was to test whether different sociodemographic factors (gender, accommodation type) and emotional well-being are related to healthy eating of university students and to test whether differences between countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary) exist. Methods Data from an international study SLiCE (http://www.slice-study.eu/) were analysed using the analysis of covariance. The ratio of the frequency of eating healthy (fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, cooked vegetables, milk products, whole grain cereals)/unhealthy food (sweets, cakes, snacks, fast food, soft drinks with sugar) measured by the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) (Cade et al., 2002, 2004) was used as the dependent variable. Gender, country, accommodation type (living at home with parents vs. living in student dormitories) and the score of emotional well-being (index of emotional well-being, WHO-5) were used as explanatory variables. The sample consisted of 860 university students (237 Slovak, 192 Czech, 245 Lithuanian and 186 Hungarian), 75.5 % of which were women. The average age of participants was 20.9 (SD = 3, 64) years. Findings: Differences in eating habits by country were identified. Food consumed by Slovak university students was significantly less healthy (F = 10,708; p < 0,001) compared to the students from other countries. University students with a higher level of emotional well-being tended to eat healthier (F = 9,958; p = 0,002). There were no significant differences in healthy eating according to gender and accommodation type. Conclusions The results po[...].