Nutrition of overweight and obese students

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the diet of 225 overweight and obese university students in four countries and to implement a web-based nutrition program. Methods: From the initially examined 1517 medical students from Poland, Belarus, Russia and Lithuania (aged 20.9±1.97 years) a subsample of 225 students (BMI > 25.0 kg/m2) were selected. Body weight, height, the thickness of 3 skinfolds and body fat percentage were measured.The intake of energy and macronutrients was assessed using a 24-hour dietary recall. Tukey's test was used for comparison of dietary intake. Results: Russian women and men had higher anthropometic measurements and body fat percentages than others. Among women, excessive intake of proteins in Poland (16.2%) and Belarus (16.9%) and of fats in all groups were observed together with excessive energy share from saturated fatty acids (SFA). Among males, excessive intake of energy from proteins in Polish and Lithuanian students, and fat intake in all groups was observed. Conclusions and implications: The diet of overweight and obese students did not follow recommended guidelines. A nutritional program (web page www.zywienie.cm-uj.krakow.pl) was implemented which allows students to compare their diet to guidelines and modify it in order to decrease SFA and simple sugar intake.