Evaluation of Student Nutrition at the University

Abstract

Introduction: Healthy eating is associated with maintaining and improving health and academic performance of students. Objectives: To assess the adequacy of nutrition of university students on school and non-school days. Materials and methods: We examined the diet of fifth and sixth-year students of a military university. On school days (Monday to Saturday), all the students had three meals a day at the university canteen, while on Sunday they had meals made in a hostel kitchen or elsewhere. In September to December, we analyzed one typical weekly canteen menu a month (n = 4) and students’ records (n = 50) of actual food consumption on the day off. We proceeded on the assumption that the absorption of mixed food was 85 %. Results: We estimated that energy expenditures of the students on school days were 3,172.1 ± 33.5 kcal/day, while their physical activity corresponded to labor intensity group 3 with the physical activity coefficient of 1.9. The only non-school day was characterized by the above parameters of physical activity equaling group 2 and 1.6, respectively. Energy expenditures and the energy value of food consumed generally corresponded to the principles of rational nutrition. Yet, the diet was not balanced in terms of percentage contribution of meals (breakfast – 27.7 %, lunch – 46.4 %, dinner – 25.9 %), the intake of proteins and carbohydrates (54.2 % higher and 19.0 % lower than the physiological requirement, respectively), and the ratio of animal to vegetable proteins (44.3 to 55.7 %). Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids provided 12.6 % and 7.5 % of the calorie intake with the norm of < 10 % and 10.0 %, respectively. We observed increased dietary consumption of vitamins B1, B2, PP (13.3 %, 94.4 %, 141.5 % higher than the recommended values) accompanied by a 31.4 % and 20.0 % lower intake of vitamins C and B6, respectively. The dietary mineral intake was characterized by an excessive consumption of sodium (60.6 %), potassium (43.4 %), phosphorus (138.4 %), copper (90.0 %), and zinc (29.2 %) with a deficiency of calcium, magnesium, and iron 40.4 %, 49.3 %, and 42.0 %, respectively). The calcium to phosphorus ratio was 1:2.8 against the appropriate ratio of 1-2:1. On non-school days, we observed a higher intake of fast digesting carbohydrates and saturated fatty acids and a lower dietary vitamin and mineral intake. Conclusions: We recommend assessment of student nutrition with account for absorption of nutrients following a preliminary estimation of daily energy expenditures establishing the level of physical activity.