Food consumption pattern and frequency on Perceived stress among degree students in Davangere, Karnataka.

Abstract

Background: Mental diseases are a leading cause of the global burden of disease and highly contribute to life-years lost. Acute and chronic stress is considered to be potential risk factors for mental disorders. Uncontrollable stress changes eating patterns. Degree students are particularly important as they have greater freedom and control over their lifestyles.  Objective : To assess the association between food consumption pattern and frequency on perceived stress among degree students of Davangere. Material and methods: A Cross sectional survey was conducted among 2 selected degree colleges of Davangere city. Around 200 students were given a self- administered questionnaires which included a food pattern and frequency questionnaire and Cohen’s perceived stress scale. Mean and standard deviation for the continuous variables was done. Binary Logistic  regression analyses were conducted for the outcome. Results: A total of 200 degree students participated in the study. Mean age of the participants was 18.8 years. 53% of them were males and 47% of them were female participants. The frequency of food consumption differed by gender. Consumption of sweets, salty junk food was generally more common among women (mean scores 8.7 and 13.6 respectively ) when compared to males (8.3 and 12.4 respectively). Eating fresh fruits, salads and cooked vegetables, milk products and cereals was only slightly more common among males. Females displayed higher scores of perceived stress than males. Conclusion: Our results showed that unhealthy food consumption was more among women  when compared to males Among females perceived stress scores were also on the higher side.

Key words: Food consumption, Food pattern, Perceived stress scale, students