Study on Dietary Habits of College Women according to the Residence Type in Seoul

Park, Jung Hyun; Jung, Ji Hye; Kim, Hyun Sook

Abstract

This study was designed to compare the dietary habits of women's university students according to residence type. The subjects were 140 females divided into four groups. The first group consisted of students residing at home with their parents (home, n=39), the second group consisted of students residing in a dormitory (dormitory, n=34), the third group consisted of students residing in a boarding house (boarding, n=36), and the fourth group consisted of self-boarding students (self-boarding, n=31). The average age was 21.9 years, and the BMI levels of the groups were 20.8 kg/m2, 19.6 kg/m2, 20.5 kg/m2, and 19.7 kg/m2, respectively. The 'home' group had higher dietary regularity than the other groups (P<0.05). The boarding group and self-boarding group were more likely to eat out and skip breakfast than the home and dormitory groups (P<0.05). All groups indicated that frequency of snacking was higher than 1 time per day, but there was no significant difference between the groups. The dormitory and boarding groups spent less time consuming meals than the other groups. In conclusion, women's university students show different dietary behaviors according to residence type. Especially, the dormitory, boarding, and self-boarding groups need to improve their dietary habits through high quality education and nutritional support at college cafeterias.