Abstract
We examined nutrition behaviour, self-reported health and 20 health complaints of undergraduates in Finland. Students at the University of Turku in Finland participated in a cross-sectional online survey (N = 1189). For nutrition behaviour, we computed two composite food intake pattern scores (sweets, cakes and snacks; and fruits and vegetables), a dietary guideline adherence index and the subjective importance of healthy eating. Multinomial logistic regression assessed the association of students’ nutrition behaviour with three levels of self-reported health, controlling for many potential confounders (age, sex, living with partner, economic situation, moderate physical activity, Faculty and BMI). Factor analysis of the 20 health complaints revealed three components (psychological, pains/aches and circulatory/breathing symptoms). Multiple linear regression tested the association of students’ eating habits with the three components of health complaints, controlling for the same confounders. Fruits and raw and cooked vegetable consumption, dietary guideline adherence index and subjective importance of healthy eating were highest among students with excellent/very good self-reported health, exhibiting a decreasing trend for those individuals with poor/fair self-reported health. High levels of psychological symptoms were associated with decreased consumption of fruits and vegetables, less dietary guideline adherence and less subjective importance of healthy eating. Pain/aches symptoms were associated with a higher consumption of sweets, cookies and snacks and a lower adherence to dietary guidelines. More healthy nutrition behaviour was consistently associated with better self-reported health and less health complaints. Of the four nutrition behaviour indicators we employed, the dietary guideline adherence index was the best indicator and exhibited the most consistent associations with self-reported health and health complaints.
Highlights
Healthy nutrition behaviour is an important component that is required to maintain health
Some research examined the associations between nutritional status and quality of life; a population-based cohort study found that adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) pattern was associated with better health-related quality of life and that the association was stronger with mental health than with physical health [4]
Fruits and raw and cooked vegetable consumption, dietary guideline adherence index, as well as the subjective importance of healthy eating were highest among students who reported excellent/very good self-reported health and exhibited in all three scores a decreasing trend compared to those individuals with poor/fair self-reported health
Summary
Healthy nutrition behaviour is an important component that is required to maintain health. Two systematic reviews on the associations between nutritional status and quality of life concluded that few studies were available that explored the relationships between nutrition and quality of life or health [5,6]. The scarcity of such research on the links between nutrition habits and health is further demonstrated by an older review [5], which found only three studies that reported a positive association between nutritional status and quality of life. Whereas the more recent review [6] was based on a larger sample of published papers (13 relevant studies), the authors only evaluated the tools (questionnaires) that were used to determine the association between dietary habits and quality of life, and no results on the links between nutrition behaviour and health were presented
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