Relationship between dietary patterns, lifestyle habits and Total body fat composition among university students

The prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide, leading to an increased risk of many serious illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. The changes of dietary patterns and lifestyle habits especially among young generation may contribute to this problem. This study was conducted to investigate the impacts of dietary patterns and lifestyle habits on total body fat composition among UniKL RCMP students.The self-administered questionnaires were distributed among 71 students (42.3% male and 57.7% female) by convenience sampling method to identify their dietary pattern and lifestyle habits. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Method was used to assess body fat composition. The results showed that most of the students (52.1%) consumed 2 meals daily, which contained carbohydrates, proteins, fatty foods, and beverages, but a low intake of fruits and vegetables. The majority of the students skipped breakfast and ate lunch as their main meal. For lifestyle habits, 77.5% of students preferred to do inactive activity during leisure time, while only 2.8% preferred to do exercise. The mean body fat percentage (% BF) for male students was 21.13 + 1.30, which is classified as high, while for females, the mean % BF was 26.71 + 1.25, which is classified as normal. The majority of the students did not practice healthy eating and lifestyle habits, and these factors may have contributed to the high body fat composition in male students. Therefore, the university is suggested to provide more programs such as good lifestyle habits and nutrition educations campaigns to increase awareness among the students.