Fish consumption in college students

• Author(s): Silva, Adriana ; Rodrigues, Andreia ; Martins, Daniela ; Fernandes, António ; Ferro-Lebres, Vera
• Date: 2014
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/9555
• Origin: Biblioteca Digital do IPB
• Subject(s): Fish Consumption; Diet; Students; Health; Portugal
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

Introduction Fish is an important part of a healthy diet, the possibility of substituting meals with a higher content of saturated fat raising cardiovascular diseases risk, by meals with fish has innumerous health benefits. Objective This study aimed to study the consumption of fish in higher education students, and its socio demographic cofactors. Methods A sample of 238 Portuguese higher education students was used in a cross sectional study. A questionnaire regarding socio demographic and fish consumption habits was used. Statistical data analysis was performed suing Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21.0. Kolmogorov-Smirnov with Lilliefors correction, Levene, Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis, were the tests used. Results Results revealed that females and students from up-country have a significantly higher consumption of fish. It was also evident that students consume significantly more fish when eating out. Conclusions These data were consistent with previous researches that concluded that women consume significantly more fish and other healthy food items, like fruits and vegetables. These results suggest that the contexts of a fishy diet in higher education students are not the same as for adults. Further studies regarding the determinants of a healthy diet as a whole are needed.