The Association between Smoking and Dietary Habits of Female College Students

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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