Nutritional intake and metabolic parameters of Japanese university students with and without obesity: Sex-specific differences

OBJECTIVE: To establish effective methods of obesity prevention among young adults, we analyzed the relationship between obesity-related food intake and metabolic factors in Japanese university students. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of nutrient intake information and metabolic parameters among 1,206 Gifu University students categorized by body mass index. RESULTS: The overweight/obesity rate was significantly higher in males. Additionally, among males, the intake of protein, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, all lipids/fats, and all metabolic parameters including blood sugar, hemoglobin A1c, uric acid, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and blood pressure significantly differed between the obese and non-obese groups. However, the same comparison among females revealed no significant differences in nutrient intake and significant differences in only half of the parameters. Among males, energy intake from protein and fat was significantly higher in the obese group, while the percentage of total energy intake from carbohydrates and fat was lower and higher, respectively, among females in the obese group. CONCLUSIONS: Overeating of protein and fat in males and unbalanced nutrition in females are sex-specific characteristics of Japanese university students with obesity, and metabolic abnormalities in students with obesity are more remarkable in males than in females.