ABSTRACT

The dietary practices habits and food security status of undergraduates males may contribute to their anthropometric status. This study was designed to assess the dietary practices, food security, and anthropometric status of male undergraduate students studying in Abia State University Uturu, Umuahia Campus. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used, multistage sampling technique was used to select 440 students from Abia State University Uturu. Umuahia Campus. A validated structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on the respondents socioeconomic characteristics, dietary habits, food security status and anthropometric status. Standard study protocols/instruments such as Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), body mass index and waist hip ratio were used and values compared with reference standards. Descriptive statistics was computed for the variables while Pearson's correlation showed the relationship between the variable. Socio demographic data ofthe respondents consist of young (20-43.6%). Igbo (87.7%) and Christians (95.1%) adults who stay off campus (76.6%) and receive an allowance of less than 1421,000 (81.2%) monthly. The dietary habits information comprised of regular (>2times) meal intake (66.6%), break skipping (24.8%). Food unavailability and lack oftime were the main reasons forskipping meals. Although majority (67.1%) ofthe male undergraduate prepared meals themselves, less than a quarter (22.0%) did so frequently. The home was the main place for consumption of breakfast (56.1%), lunch (52.0%) and dinner (75.6%) meals. Food taste (97.0%), texture (91.4%), nutritional value (89.3%) and ingredients (86.3%) were the common factors affecting food consumption. Data on anthropometry showed that there were more overweight/obese respondents (20.7%) than their underweight (10.6%) counterparts. Majority (85.1%) of the subject had normal waist hip ratio status. Data on food security showed that majority (70.0%) of the respondents were severely food insecure, 8.2% of them were moderately/mildly food insecure while one-quarter of them (25.5%) were food secure. Food security was significantly associated with daily food intake frequency (r = -0.10**; p = 0.00) and eating out (r = 0.18**, p = 0.00). Overall, high food insecurity, poor dietary habits were significantly interlinked with the report in this study. Nutrition education tailored toward strengthening capacity to conveniently prepare home meals and limit snacking amongst others, should be encouraged