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Page 1: users.rowan.eduusers.rowan.edu/~norwoo43/CHD_Research.docx · Web viewAlong with this, lack of nutritional knowledge can lead students to make nutritional decisions that can ultimately

Effect of Nutrition on College Students

Ashley Averack, Ryan Cafaro, Thomas Cocivera, Evan Norwood, Jessica Parto, Michael

Streifer, and Deana Wood

18 April 2012

Consumer Health Decision MW 9:25

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Between busy schedules, tight budgets, and social atmosphere, college students are under

a lot of pressure and proper nutrition is one of the aspects that suffer. Along with this, lack of

nutritional knowledge can lead students to make nutritional decisions that can ultimately result in

unhealthy diets. Fast food and packed processed foods become readily available and fit a college

student’s budget. While some foods appear to be healthy, an adequate knowledge base of

nutrition would aid students in distinguishing the difference between foods that are healthy and

unhealthy.

All college students are impacted by the effects of nutrition, whether they realize it or

not. This research study wanted to focus on undergraduate college students who currently attend

Rowan University. According to the article “Positive Changes in Perceptions and Selections of

Healthful Foods by College Students after a Short-Term Point-of-Selection Intervention at a

Dining Hall” by Sharon Peterson, poor nutrition habits in college students are extremely

prevalent. The research team of the current study is attempting to find how these poor eating

habits correlate with the current lives of college students. The research team is questioning if

college students are knowledgeable about food consumption and its implications. The research

team wants to found out if this knowledge effects their quality of life.

It is common knowledge that nutrition can negatively effect physical well-being and

weight status. The research team wanted to look deeper and find out ways that nutrition can

effect emotional well-being. The research team wanted to focus on how nutritional knowledge in

college students effects their overall quality of life. More specifically, the researchers wanted to

see how knowledge of nutrition correlates to sleep, alertness during the day, happiness, and

satisfaction of physical appearance.

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Research Question

Our goal is to find out how much college students know about nutrition, and whether being

knowledgeable on the subject of nutrition correlates with sleep, alertness throughout the day,

happiness, and satisfaction with physical appearance.

Significance of the Problem

This topic is important because with the proper knowledge of how to eat a balanced diet

and maintain a healthy weight, one could increase their quality of life, while simultaneously

decreasing the risk of developing many diseases. Some of these diseases would include: different

types of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol.

Many college students are on their own for the first time and do not have anyone to monitor their

food intake.

In college, students may lack nutritional knowledge and set unhealthy habits that may

impact them for the entirety of their life. It is also important for college students to understand

how nutrition can impact things other than disease. Sleeping, alertness throughout the day,

happiness, and self-esteem are all significant factors that affect the way we live. It is critically

important that individuals understand the extremely large impact nutrition has on the quality of

life. This is why it is important to understand how much college students know about nutrition.

Nutrition has a large impact on an individual’s health, both as a college student and at an older

age. If the research team finds out that college students are not informed or misinformed about

nutrition, the research team can expectantly come to understand the reasons behind this. The

research team intends to understand how nutrition can affect the daily life and activities of a

college student. If found that there is a correlation between nutrition and sleep, alertness,

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happiness and self-esteem, the research study can reinforce healthy eating habits and improve

overall quality of life.

Chapter 2: Review of Literature

The prevalence of literature related to nutrition is extremely high. This emphasizes the

significance of the topic. Research about nutrition is ongoing and researchers are constantly

finding out new information related to nutrition and how important nutrition is to overall quality

of life. College students are unique population and their nutritional habits are something that

peak the interest of researchers. High fat, high sodium, and high sugar diets are very apparent,

along with a deficiency in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products is very prevalent in

college students (Harring 2010).

Some of the literature the research team reviewed claimed that the stereotype of the

“Freshman 15” is fairly accurate (Gropper 2009). The literature concluded that freshman on

average did not gain fifteen pounds, but they did gain weight (Gropper 2009). The research team

was interested into the reasons college students, and Americans in general are gaining weight at

such a rapid rate. After reviewing literature, the research team concluded that weight gain could

be related to the increase in sedentary lifestyles (Normand 2010).

On college campuses, sedentary lifestyles are a common occurrence. Stressors that

college provides can lead students to sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles. According to

the Journal of American College Health, "Currently, over 30% of college students are either

overweight or obese" (Freedman 2010). Literature reviewed by the study team found that having

a Peer Health Educator plays an important role in promoting health behaviors related to alcohol,

drugs, and eating (White 2009). For example, finding time to eat breakfast may be difficult for

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college students. However, there is overwhelming evidence that breakfast consumption can

positively affect alertness throughout the day, anxiety, mood, bowel problems, and depression

(Smith 2010). Many college students are uninformed on the subject of nutrition, as well (Giles et

al 2009). The research team of this study is attempting to see if being informed on the subject of

nutrition impacts how college students eat. According to the research done in College Freshmen

Perceptions of Effective and Ineffective Aspects of Nutrition Education a relationship between

students’ knowledge, choices, and lifelong health is made. According to the results “a recent

survey of 1701 college students provides additional evidence that unhealthy dietary behaviors

characterize many college students and put them at risk for chronic disease” (Kicklighter 98).

Chapter 3: Methodology

Subjects

The study participants included 136 current undergraduate students at Rowan University,

ranging from 18 years old to 36 years old. The majority of the students were friends and/or

classmates of the researchers. The study participants were recruited by the research group

politely asking if he or she would like to take an anonymous survey. The participants gave their

consent and were informed of the reasons behind the survey being conducted. Participants had to

be over the age of 18 at the time the survey was completed, and each participant had to be a

current undergraduate student at Rowan University. Anyone that did not meet these criteria was

excluded from participation in this particular study.

Data Collection

The surveys were completed at Campbell Library’s lobby from 11:00AM-12:00PM, Education

Hall’s first floor lobby from 10:45AM-11:30AM, Robinson Hall’s main entrance from 1:00PM-

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1:30PM, Recreation Center’s lobby from 3:00PM-4:00PM, Savitz Hall’s first floor lobby from

12:00PM-1:15PM, and outside the Marketplace in the Student Center from 5:30PM-6:15PM at

Rowan University from April 12 – April 15, 2012. Undergraduate students over the age of 18 at

these locations were eligible to participate. The survey underwent several revisions under the

advising of Dr. Elaine Hatala of Rowan University’s Health & Exercise Science Department.

All university policies were met when creating and conducting the survey. An initial version of

the survey was given to Dr. Hatala for her advisement, and her recommendations for

improvement were fully considered. Several wording and formatting changes were made as a

result of Dr. Hatala’s suggestions. The survey was designed in a very specific and scientific

manner. The first five questions were demographic related. The next five questions were a

personal self-reflection of one’s nutritional habits. For this section, the research team wanted to

understand what participants thought of their own nutritional habits. The research group wanted

to know how informed participants are on the subject of nutrition and whether they consider the

health impact of what they eat. These questions were the core questions because they served as

the basis of whether people eat healthy diets. After the nutritional analysis, the survey asked how

often the individual exercises and what their diet is primarily based on. The research team

wanted to attempt to find whether personal constrictions could impact someone’s diet. For

example, someone with money issues may be extremely informed on nutrition but only buy

cheap fast food due to financial issues. Another example would be someone who tries to eat

healthy but their schedule is so busy that they find themselves eating fast food and/or packaged

food. The last four questions of the survey were not related to nutrition. The purpose of the last

for questions was to see if the nutrition associated questions were related with alertness

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throughout the day, sleep, happiness, and satisfaction with physical appearance. The research

team wanted to see if there were relationships between nutrition and these four attributes.

Chapter 4: Results

The research demonstrated that there were relationships between nutritional knowledge

and sleep, alertness throughout the day, happiness, and satisfaction with physical appearance.

Research demonstrated that 51 percent of participants said they were “fairly” informed on the

subject of nutrition. Only 4 percent of the study participants said that they were “not at all

informed” on the subject of nutrition. Of the 4 percent of people who said they were not at all

informed on the subject of nutrition, none of the participants said that they “always” or “usually”

considered the health impact of what they ate. 18 percent of the participants claimed that they

were “extremely” informed on the subject of nutrition. Of the 18 percent who claimed that they

were “extremely” informed on the subject of nutrition, 83 percent of them “always” or “usually”

considered the health impact of what they ate.

Of participant’s surveyed, 54 percent of the participants said that they were either

“extremely satisfied” or “satisfied” with their physical appearance. 35 percent of participants

18%

51%

27%

4%

Knowledge of Nutrition

Extremely InformedFairly InformedSomewhat InformedNot at All Informed

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said that they were “somewhat” satisfied with their physical appearance, and 11 percent said they

were “not very” satisfied with their physical appearance. Of the people who said that they were

“extremely satisfied” or “satisfied” with their physical appearance, 66 percent said their diet was

either “extremely healthy” or “fairly healthy.” Of the fifteen individuals who were “not satisfied”

with their physical appearance, 0 percent of the participants said their diet was “extremely

healthy;” 20 percent of the participants said their diet was “fairly healthy;” and the remaining 80

percent said their diet was either “somewhat healthy” or “unhealthy.”

Not Satisfied with Physical Appearance

Extremely Healthy Diet 0%Fairly Healthy Diet 20%

Somewhat Unhealthy & Unhealthy Diet 80%

69 percent of participants said that they were either “extremely informed” or “fairly

informed” on the subject of nutrition. Of these individuals, 74 percent said that on average they

“always” or “usually” feel alert throughout the day and only 7 percent said on average they were

“rarely” or “never” alert throughout the day. 31 percent of participants claimed that they were

only “somewhat informed” or “uninformed” on the subject of nutrition. Of these individuals, 52

percent said that on average they were “always” or “usually” alert throughout the day and 24

percent claimed they were “rarely” or “never” alert throughout the day.

Alertness Throughout Day

Always or

Usually Alert

Rarely or

Never Alert

% of Extremely/Fairly Informed 74 7% of Somewhat/Un- Informed 52 24

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69 percent of participants said they were either “extremely informed” or “fairly

informed” on the subject of nutrition. Of these individuals, 65 percent said that on average, they

slept well 4 nights or more during the week; the remaining 35 percent said that on average, they

got 3 or less good nights of sleep during the week. 31 percent of participants claimed that they

were only “somewhat informed” or “uninformed” on the subject of nutrition. Of these

individuals, 38 percent said that on average, they got a good night sleep 4 days or more during

week. 62 percent of individuals who put “somewhat informed” or “uninformed” claimed that on

average they got a good night sleep 3 nights or less throughout the week.

Relationship Between Knowledge of Nutrition & Sleep

Slept Well 4

or More Nights

(per week)

Slept Well 3 or Less Nights

(per week)

% of Extremely/Fairly Informed 65 35% of Somewhat/Un- Informed 38 62

The results showed that there was a relationship between being satisfied with one’s

physical appearance and considering one’s diet healthy. The results also showed a relationship

between being informed on the subject of nutrition with considering the health impact of food

consumption. There was also a clear relationship between being informed on the subject of

nutrition and being alert throughout the day. Being able to sleep at night and being informed on

nutrition was another relationship that was apparent in the study. Overall, the survey indicated

that nutrition is related to alertness throughout the day, sleep, and satisfaction with physical

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appearance. There was no induction from this survey that happiness was affected by nutrition,

that was the only relationship that remains inconclusive after the findings.

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1. What is your gender? _79_Male 58%_57_Female 42%

2. What is your major? ______________________________________________________.

3. What year are you? _42_Freshman 31%_41_Sophomore 30%_43_Junior 32%_10_Senior 7%

4. What is your current age? 18 (24), 19 (33), 20 (41), 21 (25), 22 (5), 23 (1), 24 (5), 29 (1), 36 (1)

5. What is your current living situation?_99_Rowan University Campus Housing 73%_11_Renting an apartment or house off campus 8%_26_Commute from home 19%_0 _Other. Explain. ___________________________________________________.

6. Do you have a meal plan? _101_Yes 74%_35_No 26% If yes, please specify which meal plan (example: 14 a week) _Unlimited (67), _14_a_week (22), __7_a_week (12) _______________________.

7. How informed do you feel that you are on the subject of nutrition? _25_Extremely informed 18%

_69_Fairly informed 51%_37_Somewhat informed 27%_5_Not at all informed 4%

8. One average, how many days per week do you eat breakfast?_6 _None 5%_23_1 day per week 17%_34_2-3 days per week 25%_27_4-5 daysper week 20%_46_6-7 days per week 34%

9.[8.] How healthy would you say your current eating habits are?

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_12_Extremely healthy 9%_60_Fairly healthy 44%_48_Somewhat healthy 35%_16_Unhealthy 12%

10.[9.] How often do you consider the health impact of what you eat? _26_Always 19%_51_Usually 38%_41_Sometimes 30%_13_Rarely 10%_5_Never 4%

11.[10.] One average, how many days per week do you exercise this semester?_13_None 10%_13_1 day per week 10%_35_2-3 days per week 26%_30_4-5 daysper week 22%_45_6-7 days per week 32%

12.[11.] This semester, is your diet based primarily on…(ranked as most important) _27_Money 20%_34_Busy schedule 25%_17_Social atmosphere 13%_35_Desire for certain foods 26%_35_Maintaining a healthy diet 2 6%_9 _Other. Please explain 7%.___________________________________________.

13.[12.] On average, how many days per week do you get a good night sleep this semester?_12 _None 9%_19_1 day per week 14%_21 2-3 days per week 15%_58_4-5 days per week 43%_26_6-7 days per week 19%

14.[13.] On average, how often are you awake and alert throughout the whole day?_16_ Always 12%_69_ Usually 51%_30_ Sometimes 22%_13 Rarely 10%_8 _ Never 6%

15.[14.] On average, how often do you feel happy? _31_ Always 23%_64_ Usually 47%_23_ Sometimes 17%_10 Rarely 7%_9 _ Never 7%

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16.[15.] Overall, how satisfied are you with your physical appearance?_22_ Very satisfied 16%_52_ Satisfied 38%_47 Somewhat satisfied 35%_15_ Not very satisfied 11%_0 _ Not satisfied at all 0%

ReferencesBrunt, A., Rhee, Y., & Zhong, L. (2008). Differences in Dietary Patterns Among College

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Freedman, M. R. (2010). Development, Evaluation, and Validation of Environmental

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Assessment Tools to Evaluate the College Nutrition Environment. Journal Of American College Health, 58(6), 565-568.

Giles, S. M., Champion, H., Sutfin, E. L., McCoy, T. P., & Wagoner, K. (2009). CalorieRestriction on Drinking Days: An Examination of Drinking Consequences Among College Students. Journal Of American College Health, 57(6), 603-610.

Gropper, S. S., Simmons, K. P., Gaines, A., Drawdy, K., Saunders, D., Ulrich, P., & Connell, L.(2009). The Freshman 15—A Closer Look. Journal Of American College Health, 58(3), 223-231.

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