A study on dietary habits, alcohol use disorder and physical health problems of college students

Abstract

Background/Objectives: This study was aimed to investigate the correlations among dietary habit, alcohol use disorder and physical health problem in Korean college students. Methods/Statistical analysis: In this cross-sectional study, we randomly selected 194 college students. BMI, cholesterol, dietary habit, AUDIT, physical health problems were assessed through questionnaires and test. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation using SPSS/IBM 23.0 software. Findings: With regard to BMI, 9.6%, 10.2% of the students were underweight and obese respectively. Dietary habit score showed a statically significant difference by residence (F=19.53, p<.001). The AUDIT score showed a statically significant difference according to gender (t=-2.25, p=.026), smoking (F=10.09, p<.001) and dietary behavior_frequency of eating out (F=3.14, p=.026). Physical health problems score showed a statically significant difference according to gender (t=2.25, p=.025), smoking (F=10.09, p<.001), alcohol use (t=5.09, p=.025), dietary behavior_frequency of midnight snacking (F= 3.74, p=.025). Physical health problems were significantly correlated with age (r=.15, p=.038) and AUDIT (r=.14, p=.046). Improvements/Applications: Positive associations were observed between AUDIT and physical health problems among Korean college students. More attention should be paid towards dietary habit such as eating out with drinking or midnight snacking in college life, to improve physical health and help prevent related health problems later in life. Based on these findings, development of nutrition education program considering lifestyle and nutritional status of college students is required. ? BEIESP.