Poor eating habits among students can have short, medium and long term health consequences.
- The poor eating habits of students can have consequences on their health.
- They are more likely to be obese or to suffer from mental, respiratory and infectious diseases.
- These eating habits, if not corrected, can continue in the future and increase the risk of disorders.
Prepared meals, fast food, sweets… During the years of higher education, it is not uncommon to have bad eating habits. But these can have long-term health consequences. In any case, this is the finding of a study published on the student regime in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports.
Bad eating habits common among college students
“Many students consume high calorie meals and sugary foods and drinks and there is ample evidence to show that these types of eating behaviors can lead to obesity, explains Dr. Joan Bottorff, one of the authors of this study, in a communicated. These are not the only habits that [peuvent y mener]but they are important and should not be excluded.“
To show the link between obesity, various diseases and poor diet during schooling, scientists studied data from nearly 12,000 medical students from 31 Chinese universities. Among them, 50.1% had bad eating habits (too fatty, sweet and caloric) and 24.9% declared having chronic or infectious diseases or mental disorders.
The bad eating habits of students can create their diseases of tomorrow
“A significant portion of students have unhealthy diets, assures Dr. Joan Bottorff. The types of food they eat are linked to obesity. And this can lead to other health problems that are not only chronic diseases, but also infectious diseases.”. Thus, the researchers have clearly established a link between the quality of the students’ diet and the risk of obesity, mental, respiratory and infectious diseases, such as colds.
“We need to think about the food environment we provide to students, says the expert. We need to ensure that in our cafeterias and vending machines there are healthy food options so that they can eat on the go, but also make healthy food choices.“And this, especially since the bad eating habits acquired during studies can continue later, in working life.
In France, obesity affects 17% of adults, or 8.5 million people, according to the report “better prevention and management of obesity in France“. Its prevalence has doubled since 1997 when 8.5% of the population was obese.
