ABSTRACT
Nutrition especially for young adults is very crucial as they are in transitional phase from adolescent to adulthood. The aim of this survey was to explore the nutritional habits of university students especially those who use internet heavily. An Internet-based survey was performed among 361 young adults students at private medical university in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess students nutritional habits and internet daily usage. A total of 361 respondents participated in this survey with response rate of 72.2% (361/500). Majority of the respondents were female (65.1%), do not take breakfast daily (55.1%), eating dinner daily (82.3%), do not exercise regularly (59.0%). There was a significant association between gender and internet usage (p = 0.03), the association between number of hours on facebook and internet usage was significant (p<0.001). In conclusion, more attention should be given to this age group with more education regarding healthy nutritional choices.
PDF References Citation
How to cite this article
Mohammed A. Abdal Qader, Hasanain Faisal Ghazi, Zaleha Md. Isa, Tiba Nezar Hasan and Mustafa Fadil Mohammed, 2015. Nutritional Habits among Internet Users in a Private Malaysian Medical School. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 14: 409-411.
DOI: 10.3923/pjn.2015.409.411
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjn.2015.409.411
DOI: 10.3923/pjn.2015.409.411
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjn.2015.409.411
REFERENCES
- Isa, K.A.M. and M.G. Masuri, 2011. The association of breakfast consumption habit, snacking behavior and body mass index among university students. Am. J. Food. Nutr., 1: 55-60.
CrossRefDirect Link - Buchanan, E.A. and E.E. Hvizdak, 2009. Online survey tools: Ethical and methodological concerns of human research ethics committees. J. Empiric. Res. Hum. Res. Ethics, 4: 37-48.
CrossRefPubMedDirect Link - Chin, Y.S. and M.T.M. Nasir, 2009. Eating behaviors among female adolescents in Kuantan district, Pahang, Malaysia. Pak. J. Nutr., 8: 425-432.
CrossRefDirect Link - Choi, K., H. Son, M. Park, J. Han, K. Kim, B. Lee and H. Gwak, 2009. Internet overuse and excessive daytime sleepiness in adolescents. Psychiatry Clin. Neuosci., 63: 455-462.
CrossRefPubMedDirect Link - Ganasegeran, K., S.A.R. Al-Dubai, A.M. Qureshi, A.A.A. Al-Abed, A.M. Rizal and S.M. Aljunid, 2012. Social and psychological factors affecting eating habits among university students in a Malaysian medical school: A cross-sectional study. Nutr. J., Vol. 11, No. 1.
CrossRefDirect Link - Gan, W.Y., M.T.M. Nasir, M.S. Zalilah and A.S. Hazizi, 2011. Differences in eating behaviours, dietary intake and body weight status between male and female Malaysian university students. Malaysian J. Nutr., 17: 213-228.
Direct Link - Gunnell, D.J., G.D. Smith, S. Frankel, M. Kemp and T. Peters, 1998. Socio-economic and dietary influences on leg length and trunk length in childhood: A reanalysis of the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) survey of diet and health in prewar Britain (1937-39). Paediatr. Perinatal Epidemiol., 12: 96-113.
CrossRefDirect Link - Kerkadi, A., 2003. Evaluation of nutritional status of United Arab Emirates university female students. Emirates J. Food Agric., 15: 42-50.
CrossRefDirect Link - Kim, J.S. and B.C. Chun, 2005. Association of Internet addiction with health promotion lifestyle profile and perceived health status in adolescents. J. Prev. Med. Public Health, 38: 53-60.
Direct Link - Kutty, N.A. and C.T. Sreeramareddy, 2014. A cross-sectional online survey of compulsive internet use and mental health of young adults in Malaysia. J. Family Communty Med., 21: 23-28.
CrossRefDirect Link - Lam, L.T., Z.W. Peng, J.C. Mai and J. Jing, 2009. Factors associated with internet addiction among adolescents. CyberPsychol. Behav., 12: 551-555.
CrossRefPubMedDirect Link - Musaiger, A.O., Z. Bader, K. Al-Roomi and R. D'Souza, 2011. Dietary and lifestyle habits amongst adolescents in Bahrain. Food Nutr. Res., Vol. 55.
CrossRef - Nelson, M.C., M. Story, N.I. Larson, D. Neumark-Sztainer and L.A. Lytle, 2008. Emerging adulthood and college-aged youth: An overlooked age for weight-related behavior change. Obesity, 16: 2205-2211.
CrossRefDirect Link - Al-Dubai, S.A.R., K. Ganasegeran, M.A.M. Al-Shagga, H. Yadav and J.T. Arokiasamy, 2013. Adverse health effects and unhealthy behaviors among medical students using facebook. Sci. World J., Vol. 2013.
CrossRef - Savige, G.S., K. Ball, A. Worsley and D. Crawford, 2007. Food intake patterns among Australian adolescents. Asia Pac. J. Clin. Nutr., 16: 738-747.
PubMedDirect Link - Shi, Z., N. Lien, B.N. Kumar and G. Holmboe-Ottesen, 2005. Socio-demographic differences in food habits and preferences of school adolescents in Jiangsu Province, China. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr., 59: 1439-1448.
CrossRefDirect Link - Tanaka, M., K. Mizuno, S. Fukuda, Y. Shigihara and Y. Watanabe, 2008. Relationships between dietary habits and the prevalence of fatigue in medical students. Nutrition, 24: 985-989.
CrossRefDirect Link