Eating episode frequency and fruit and vegetable consumption among Italian university students

In this study by Poscia et al. (2017) the authors investigated the dietary habits of university students, including eating breakfast, meal regularity and intake of vegetables and fruits. 12,000 university students submitted a self-administered survey adopted from the Sportello Salute Giovani (SSG) questionnaire exploring variables such as finances, BMI, number of breakfast meals and portions of fruits and vegetables eaten across the week, how often do they eat per day and whether they have a weight loss target. The results revealed that 15.8% of males and 26.3% of females eat at least a portion of fruits and vegetables daily, and that their age did not impact dietary intake, frequency of eating or breakfast meals. Moreover, a substantial positive relationship was discovered between consuming fruits and vegetables and having breakfast regularly and more frequent eating instances throughout the day. Based on these findings, the authors stress the importance of promoting nutritional education as a means of enhancing conformity to nutritional guidelines. [NPID: Breakfast, Body Mass Index, diet surveys, feeding behavior, fruit, vegetable, university students]

Year: 2017

Reference: Poscia, A., Teleman, A. A., Azzolini, E., de Waure, C., Maged, D., Virdis, A., Ricciardi, W., & Di Pietro, M. L. (2017). Eating episode frequency and fruit and vegetable consumption among Italian university students. Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanita, 53(3), 199–204. https://doi.org/10.4415/ANN_17_03_04