UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Power, Mariya V.
Dept./Program:
Nutritional and Food Sciences
Year:
2007
Degree:
MS
Abstract:
During the past two decades obesity has emerged as a significant public health problem because of its increasing prevalence, and has become a topic of widespread discussion in the scientific community. This trend has been especially disturbing among children and adolescents within the past few years. The rapid increase in obesity is often attributed to societal and environmental factors, such as suburban sprawl, TV viewing, food advertisement, fast food, and increased portion size. NHANES, BFRSS, and other surveillance systems provide relatively good estimates of childhood and adolescent obesity, as well as factors affecting it at the national level. However, we still do not have any monitoring system focusing on specific populations such as college females. Several studies indicate that young women are experiencing sudden weight gain within the first year of college commonly known as "Freshmen 15". In order to lose unwanted pounds college females are engaging in maladaptive behaviors, such as skipping breakfast, smoking, use of laxatives, and calorie restricted diets. This project will identify if there has been a change in Body Mass Index (BMI) in college females over the past 15 years, and its correlation with the quality and quantity of their diet.
The subjects are females 18-29 years old who enrolled in an undergraduate nutrition course fiom 1992-2006. Body weight and height were determined to the nearest kilogram and centimeter, while free of shoes and heavy clothes. BMI was calculated as weight (kg)/height² (m²). Daily energy intake and percentage of macronutrients were determined from self-reported 3-day dietary analysis. Results demonstrate that BMI of college females progressively increased over the 15 years (p<0.05). There was also a significant increase of Total Daily Energy Intake (p<0.05). Results of this study show a complete change of diet composition of college females. We saw a significant increase in consumption of fat (p<0.05) and protein (p<0.05), while the consumption of carbohydrates was rapidly decreasing (p<0.05) from 1992 to 2006. We found a negative correlation between carbohydrate and fat (p<0.01), and carbohydrate and protein (p<0.01), and a significant positive correlation between BMI and dietary fat intake (p<0.01). Our results demonstrate that lowering carbohydrate intake, as well as consuming foods high in fat and protein may promote weight gain. College women were progressively modifing their diets in a possible attempt to regulate their weight and they have not been successful.
The subjects are females 18-29 years old who enrolled in an undergraduate nutrition course fiom 1992-2006. Body weight and height were determined to the nearest kilogram and centimeter, while free of shoes and heavy clothes. BMI was calculated as weight (kg)/height² (m²). Daily energy intake and percentage of macronutrients were determined from self-reported 3-day dietary analysis. Results demonstrate that BMI of college females progressively increased over the 15 years (p<0.05). There was also a significant increase of Total Daily Energy Intake (p<0.05). Results of this study show a complete change of diet composition of college females. We saw a significant increase in consumption of fat (p<0.05) and protein (p<0.05), while the consumption of carbohydrates was rapidly decreasing (p<0.05) from 1992 to 2006. We found a negative correlation between carbohydrate and fat (p<0.01), and carbohydrate and protein (p<0.01), and a significant positive correlation between BMI and dietary fat intake (p<0.01). Our results demonstrate that lowering carbohydrate intake, as well as consuming foods high in fat and protein may promote weight gain. College women were progressively modifing their diets in a possible attempt to regulate their weight and they have not been successful.