A Study on Perceived Stress and Dietary Habits of Female College Students

Abstract Objectives To examine the relationship between reported vigorous aerobic exercise and perceived stress scores (PSS) among female college students with overweight or obesity. Methods Cross-sectional data were collected between 2012–2020 from the College Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey, an ongoing study at a public northeastern university. Measured height and weight by trained technicians were used to calculate BMI (kg/m2) and categorize students as overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). Students completed Cohen's 10-item Perceived Stress Scale and self-reported vigorous physical activity (days/past week) via online (Qualtrics) questionnaire. Mean differences between activity groups were examined via ANCOVA; age, major and taking anxiety medication served as covariates. Results A total of n = 622 female students with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 were included for analyses. Participants had a mean age of 18.8 ± 0.4 years and BMI of 28.1 ± 0.1 kg/m2. Most (95.1%) participants were white, and first year students made up the largest group (55.4%) of participants. Almost 1 in 5 students (17.8%) reported no days of vigorous activity, 15.3% reported one day, 12.8% reported 2 days, and 54% reported 3 or more days of vigorous activity. PSS scores were negatively related to # of vigorous activity days (P < 0.001). Those who reported no days of vigorous activity had higher perceived stress scores than those who participated in 2 days or 3 or more days of vigorous activity (19.7 ± 0.6 vs. 17.0 ± 0.7 and 16.3 ± 0.4, respectively, P < 0.01). Conclusions Findings suggest engaging in increasing days of vigorous activity is related to lower perceived stress in female college students with overweight or obesity. These findings support the inclusion of physical activity recommendations to broadly support the health and wellness of university students. Funding Sources The New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Project.

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Association between the Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Stress among Female College Students

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12082389 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 2389

Author(s):

Leenah Alfreeh ◽

Mahmoud M. A. Abulmeaty ◽

Manal Abudawood ◽

Feda Aljaser ◽

Nitin Shivappa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Dietary Factors ◽

Female College Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Female College ◽

Inflammatory Biomarker ◽

Hs Crp

A pro-inflammatory diet may have an adverse influence on stress and inflammatory biomarker levels among college students. The dietary inflammatory index (DII®) is a tool used to assess the inflammatory potential of a diet. However, evidence for the association between DII and stress is limited. We examined the association between energy-adjusted DII (E-DIITM), high sensitivity-C-reactive protein [hs-CRP], and stress among female college students. This cross-sectional study included 401 randomly selected female students, aged 19–35 years. Data collection included blood, anthropometric measurements, a healthy-history questionnaire, the perceived stress scale (PSS-10), the Saudi food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and E-DII. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the association between FFQ-derived E-DII score, hs-CRP, and PSS. A higher E-DII score per 1SD (1.8) was associated with a 2.4-times higher PSS score (95% CI: 1.8, 3.1). Higher hs-CRP per 1SD (3.3 mg/L) was associated with a 0.9 (95% CI: 0.7–1.1) times higher PSS score, independent of lifestyle and dietary factors. Our findings indicate that pro-inflammatory diets were highly prevalent among Saudi college students and were associated with higher stress levels. Consideration of the role of stress and focusing on anti-inflammatory foods may be key for healthier dietary habits.

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Breakfast Skipping in Female College Students Is a Potential and Preventable Predictor of Gynecologic Disorders at Health Service Centers

Diagnostics ◽

10.3390/diagnostics10070476 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 476

Author(s):

Tomoko Fujiwara ◽

Masanori Ono ◽

Takashi Iizuka ◽

Naomi Sekizuka-Kagami ◽

Yoshiko Maida ◽

...

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Health Service ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

Female College Students ◽

Menstrual Disorders ◽

Menstrual Pain ◽

Female College ◽

Breakfast Skipping ◽

Meal Skipping ◽

History Of

Inadequate dietary habits in youth are known to increase the risk of onset of various diseases in adulthood. Previously, we found that female college students who skipped breakfast had higher incidences of dysmenorrhea, suggesting that breakfast skipping interferes with ovarian and uterine functions. Since dietary habits can be managed by education, it is preferable to establish a convenient screening system for meal skipping that is associated with dysmenorrhea as part of routine services of health service centers. In this study, we recruited 3172 female students aged from 18 to 25 at Kanazawa University and carried out an annual survey of the status of students’ health and lifestyle in 2019, by a questionnaire. We obtained complete responses from 3110 students and analyzed the relationship between dietary habits, such as meal skipping and history of dieting, and menstrual disorders, such as troubles or worries with menstruation, menstrual irregularity, menstrual pain, and use of oral contraceptives. The incidence of troubles or worries with menstruation was significantly higher in those with breakfast skipping (p < 0.05) and a history of dieting (p < 0.001). This survey successfully confirmed the positive relationship between breakfast skipping and menstrual pain (p < 0.001), indicating that this simple screening test is suitable for picking up breakfast skippers who are more prone to gynecologic disorders. In conclusions, since dysmenorrhea is one of the important clinical signs, breakfast skipping may become an effective marker to predict the subsequent onset of gynecological diseases at health service centers. Considering educational correction of meal skipping, breakfast skipping is a potential and preventable predictor that will contribute to managing menstrual disorders from a preventive standpoint in the future.

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