Associate Professor of Biology Ursuline College Pepper Pike, Ohio, United States
Disclosure(s):
Lynn Ulatowski, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: This study compared the nutritional quality of college students’ diets during and post-COVID.
Methods: Participants recorded food intake for 3 days (2 weekdays and 1 weekend day) and analyzed the nutritional quality using the cronometer app. The following participants were included: females aged 18-22. Individuals were excluded if they did not have all the information complete, identified as males, or were not within the traditional undergraduate age of 18-22 years old. All individuals identified as female or male. Data were collected in the Fall of 2020, which was considered during COVID, and in the Fall of 2022, which was considered post-COVID. Using the data from each participant’s 3-day food intake analysis, comparisons between the COVID and post-COVID timepoints were made for the following parameters: % of Calories consumed compared to the recommended amount of Calories, based on an individual's profile of age, weight, height, gender, and activity level; grams of fiber; mg of calcium; grams of total fat and grams of saturated fat to determine the % of total fat that was saturated; and mg of sodium. Data were stratified within the COVID and post-COVID groups for resident versus commuter students.
Results: There were very few differences between the students. The only significant difference was the amount of fiber was significantly (p < 0.002) higher in the COVID (16 g) vs post-COVID group (12 g), however, both groups averaged well below the RDI of 25 g for females. This fiber significance was lost when combining all students or comparing residents vs commuters (p < 0.36). A parameter that approached significance was the difference in % Calories consumed compared to the recommended amount of Calories. COVID students consumed 82% of their required Calories, whereas post-COVID students consumed 71% of their recommended Calories (p < 0.06). Although there were no significant differences when upon stratifying students, all students consumed about 1/3rd of their fats (range 31-33%) from saturated fats and were considerably over the RDI of sodium (range 116-120% above the RDI of 2300 mg).
Conclusions: During COVID students increased their fiber intake, however, all data suggest college students do not consume enough Calories and fiber but consume an unhealthy amount of saturated fats and sodium.
