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Gonzales, Robyn

Nursing

2014

MS

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between dietary intake, BMI, and appetitive responsiveness among students with different meal plans. Participants included 80 undergraduate students at a public university in New England. Students have three meal plan options: an unlimited access plan (UAP), points plan (PP), or no plan (NP) if living off-campus. Participants in this cross-sectional study completed dietary screeners to estimate daily intake of food variables, such as percent energy from fat and fruit/vegetable intake. Power of Food Scale assessed appetitive responsiveness. Results demonstrated that appetitive responsiveness was positively correlated with fat intake, but not added sugars intake, across groups. Unlimited access plan students had higher consumption of fat than NP students, regardless of appetitive responsiveness. Unlimited access plan students had higher consumption fruits and vegetables than NP students and higher consumption of dairy and calcium than PP students. There was no difference in mean BMI among groups. Given the burden of obesity, these findings suggest that colleges should re-evaluate their meal plans and cafeterias.