Assessment of Diet Diversity and Eating Pattern of Undergraduate Students: A Pan India Study

Introduction: Dietary diversity has been universally identified as a key element of high quality diets. The tendency among undergraduate students with poor dietary patterns is high, due to lack of parental supervision, incorrect knowledge regarding food habits, stress of academic, professional and social life. This study was carried out to assess the diet diversity and eating pattern of undergraduate students of various colleges in India. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 3046 undergraduate students across India by filling the online questionnaire shared through social media. The data on dietary diversity was collected by asking the number of consumed food groups in previous 24hr from the total food groups described by FAO, with anthropometric measurements. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21. Results: Mean age of participants was 20.7±1.9 years, the majority being females. About 42.2% student’s skipped breakfast 1-2 times per week and another 28.5% skipped 3 or more times. About 34.7% had poor DDS (Dietary Diversity Score) whereas 28.5% had good DDS. Higher DDS mean was found in males (3.67) than females (3.23), overall mean being 3.4. Among 869 people with good DDS, 63.1% had normal BMI and 57.1% availed their meals from mess. There is significant distribution of DDS among different regions (p=0.0007), graduation streams (p=0.0014) and source of meals (p<0.001). Conclusion: In this study, the diet diversity of about three-fourth participants was inadequate, showing their improper habit of food consumption and results also indicated their unhealthy eating pattern. Adequate dietary practice is recommended.