Assessment of Nutritional Status of Young Adults with Healthy Eating Index-2005

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to determine the nutritional status of individuals between the ages of 19-35 used with Healthy Eating Index (HEI) -2005. Subject and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional and descriptive study. Sample was consisted of a total of 498 (male= 230, 46.2%; female= 298, 53.8%) university students, aged 19-35 years from different academic departments. The students’ general characteristics, nutritional habits, 24-hour recalls were determined by using a questionnaire, anthropometric measurements were assessed and HEI-2005 scores were calculated and also relationships with age and sex were evaluated. The maximum overall score is 100. An HEI score over 80 implies a “good” diet, an HEI score between 51 and 80 implies a diet that “needs improvement” and an HEI score less than 51 implies a “poor” diet. Results: Mean age of male and female students were 22.1±2.8 and 21.7±3 years, respectively. Mean body mass index (BMI) was 23.1±2.7 in men and 22.4±3.5 kg/m2 in women. Totally, 85.7% of students were in19 to 24 years age group, 96.4% of individuals were single. 48.7% of men and 79.9% of women had never smoked, 42.6% of men and 13.8% of women were current smokers. Total HEI - 2005 score of women (57.1 ± 6.7 points) was higher compared to men (54.0 ± 6.3 points) (p<0.05). The majority of students (male= 72.6% , female= 85.8%) had a diet quality that improvement is needed, but the average showed that diet had poor quality. Conclusion: University students are an important group whose eating habits could be controlled and improved, so that the development of adulthood period diseases could be prevented. Training programmes should be implemented for increasing nutrition awareness and knowledge; programmes and policies should be planned and implemented for university students.