Nutritional status and metabolic risk factors among university students in Morogoro and Dodoma regions
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Date
2024
Authors
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
The transition from adolescence to adulthood coupled with the
demands of academic life often leads to significant changes in
dietary patterns and lifestyle behaviors among university students.
These changes can have profound implications for their nutritional
status and metabolic health. The lifestyle choices due to
independence increases the incidence of chronic illnesses for this
sub-population. University is an opportune setting in the transition
from youth to adulthood and provides a chance to influence healthy
habits and good nutritional status. University students are important
group to target in influencing future health-promoting habits,
prevention and management of obesity which is associated with the
development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However,
information on the nutritional status and metabolic risk factors of
university students is scarce. Therefore, findings from the present
study could serve as a stepping stone in enhancing the nutritional
and healthy quality of university students. The cross-sectional study
was conducted among 247 university students in Mzumbe and Saint
John‟s Universities in Morogoro and Dodoma regions respectively.
Two Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) accredited
universities present based on agro-ecological zones. Data were
collected through face-to-face interviews using a pre-tested
structured questionnaire that included the socio-demographic
characteristics of the population, food-frequency questionnaire and
dietary habits. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height and
waist circumference) were collected as well as the metabolic risk
bio-markers (blood lipid profile, blood pressure and blood glucose)
by trained medical personnel. The study commenced after receiving
approval from National Health Research Committee of the National
Institute for Medical Research. Permission to conduct this study was
also sought from each university‟s authorities. Data were managed
and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows (Version 26.0.
IBM Corp, 2011, Armonk, NY). Descriptive statistics were generated
for each variable. The distribution of continuous variables was tested for normality using box plots and-Q plots and the Shapiro-Wilk test.
Multivariate analysis (Multiple linear regression) was used to assess
the determinants of metabolic risk factors among variables. A sub-
sample of 118 students was drawn from the total study cohort for
metabolic risk factors assessment. Students from each university
were selected randomly; 65 students from Mzumbe University and
53 students from Saint Johns' university.
The study findings revealed the overall prevalence of overweight
(44%) and obesity (11.1%) in the study population. University
students with a high dietary diversity score (consumed ≥7 food
groups) were linked with central obesity (P=0.04). The risk of
morbidity (central obesity) was significantly associated (P=0.000)
with being female and age above 25 years (P=0.001) in both
universities. Students at Saint John‟s University were significantly at
higher risk of being overweight (P=0.031) than their counterparts.
Findings from the assessed metabolic risk factors namely central
obesity, Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TG) and total
cholesterol (TC) revealed that LDL was the most prevalent metabolic
risk factor among students in both universities. The LDL levels were
(20.3%), (13.6%), (11%) and (14.4%) for above optimal, borderline
high, high and very high respectively. Students from Mzumbe
University were significantly associated with hypertriglyceridemia
(P=0.000). The susceptibility to LDL were found among students
who were receiving scholarship (β=21.83, SE=10.4, p=0.1) and
those with high dietary diversity (β=5.731, SE=3.14, p=0.1).
In conclusion, findings from this study revealed that university
students are at a risk of being overweight, generally obese and
centrally obese. This sub-population is also prone to a cluster of
metabolic risk factors, which according to the findings include
elevated triglyceride levels, elevated low-density lipoprotein levels
and central obesity. This indicates the necessity of enhancing the
availability of exercise and sports facilities, healthier food outlets and
implementing nutrition education intervention to empower students
in making healthy life style choices.
Description
MSc Dissertation
Keywords
Nutritional Status, Metabolic Risk Factors, University Students, anthropometric status, dietary diversity, Morogoro Region, Dodoma Region