Differences in Dietary Habits, Serum Lipid Profiles, and interest in Health among Korean College Women stratified by BMI

Abstract

The principal objective of this study was to compare the food habits, nutritional status, blood lipids, and health interest among these women, in accordance with their obesity status. The data utilized herein was collected from randomly selected groups in Seoul. The subjects, aged 20‐24 years old (n=419), participated by answering questionnaires. Our analysis showed significant differences among the underweight, normal weight, and obesity groups according to BMI, weight, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, fat free mass, percentage of body fat, waist‐hip ratio, and basal metabolism (p<0.05). Cholesterol intake in the obesity group (121.92 ?114.52mg) was lower than that of the underweight group (164.67 ?114.52mg) and normal‐weight group (143.31 ?99.58mg/dl) (p<0.05). Serum cholesterol in the normal group (189.46 ?29.05mg/dl) was significantly higher than in the underweight group (177.04 ?26.36mg/dl ) (p<0.05). Serum triacylglycerol in the obesity group (132.00 ? 64.66 mg/dl ) was higher than in the underweight and normal groups (p<0.05) The ratio of HDL‐C / LDL‐C in the obesity group (0.41 ?0.06) was higher than in the underweight (0.52 ?0.45) and normal groups (0.59 ?0.23). The number of subjects in the normal group that reported taking regular exercise was higher than in the other groups. The reported duration of exercise period ranged from 30 minutes to one hour in all groups. Interest in health was high among all groups.In conclusion, our results show that college‐aged women in Seoul should be encouraged to amend their overall dietary habits, make a dietary plan that fits their individual needs, and maintain an effective exercise schedule.