Association between Breakfast Habits and Obesity among College Students

Tan, Kai Kee (2018) Association between Breakfast Habits and Obesity among College Students. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Unhealthy dietary pattern has been arisen among the college students due to imbalance energy intake from their daily diet. Consequently, it is easier for them to gain weight and become obese. However, the actual breakfast habit in relation with body composition and risk of obesity among college student is still a not well-known issue in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to determine the association between breakfast habits and obesity among 252 apparently healthy adults aged 18 to 26 years. A self-administrated questionnaires on breakfast habits and 24-hour dietary record were used to assess the breakfast habits. Body composition and body adiposity were measured by using measuring tape and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) in determining the risk of obesity. An independent t-test was used for assessing the difference between the genders in continuous data. Chi square is used for differences between genders. Logistic regression was used to examine the odds ratio of obesity and associated 95% confidence interval (CIs) in breakfast habits. The mean BMI of participants fall in the range of 22.64±4.1233 and 21.40±5.6829 for male and female respectively. There is a significant difference (p < 0.05) among male and female in the categorized BMI with 55 males and 114 females fall under healthy weight. Breakfast consumption behaviour shows that 43.4% of males and 45.6% of females consume breakfast almost every day. There is a non-significant difference (p > 0.05) among the total energy intake from both genders and group ages. Besides, the odds of body fat percentage in breakfast habits is 1.03 (95% CI: 0.993, 1.06). The present finding shows that there is almost no relationship between breakfast habits and obesity. In fact, personal food consumption is suggested to control in individual diet to prevent imbalance nutrient intake that increase risk of obesity.