Nutritional status and feeding habits of females in public and private Universities in Osun state, Southwestern, Nigeria

This study examined the dietary habits, nutritional status and socio-demographic characteristics of female undergraduates in selected public and private Universities in Osun State, Southwestern, Nigeria. The anthropometric assessment of selected respondents consisted measurements of height, weight, body circumferences, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio of respondents. The food frequency questionnaire technique was adopted to evaluate the feeding/dietary habits using well-constructed questionnaires. The results showed that over 60% of students in both public and private Universities fell within 18.5–24.9 kg/m(2), the normal weight range of body mass index according to the World Health Organisation classification. From the waist-to-hip ratio result over 60% were not at risk of non-communicable disease. The respondents were fond of snacking (74.9%) and skipping of meals (86.0%) especially breakfast (52.4%). There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the allowances (pocket money) of students where 33.7% of private University students received over N16,000 as compared to 12% of public University students. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the nutritional status of students in public and private Universities. In conclusion, the nutritional status and the dietary habits/pattern of female undergraduate students are influenced by type of schools and other underlying factors.