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Table 1 Characteristics of the study population

From: Socioeconomic, demographic and lifestyle-related factors associated with unhealthy diet: a cross-sectional study of university students

 

Total (n=593)

Women (n=344)

Men (n=249)

 

%a

%a

%a

P value

Unhealthy diet

47.90

150 (43.60)

134 (53.81)

0.018

a) Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics

 Age (years), mean

20.21

20.06

20.42

0.176

 SD

3.23

3.25

3.21

 

SES father/ mother

 High

43.84 / 37.60

42.44 / 32.27

45.78 / 44.98

0.560/0.004

 Low

56.16 / 62.40

57.56 / 67.73

54.22 / 55.02

 

Family home

 Other town

61.72

63.66

59.04

0.290

 University city

38.28

36.34

40.96

 

Cooks for him or herself during the academic year

 Yes

29.17

29.65

28.51

0.834

 No

70.83

70.35

71.49

 

Degree course

 Health Sciences

23.95

31.10

14.06

<0.001

 Social Sciences

76.05

68.90

85.94

 

b) Lifestyle-related factors

 Weight (kg) mean

66.02

59.54

74.96

<0.001

 SD

12.65

10.04

10.18

 

 Height (cm) mean

169.80

164.01

177.80

<0.001

 SD

9.23

5.99

6.55

 

BMI

 Underweight

6.41

10.17

1.20

<0.001

 Normal weight

73.52

74.42

72.29

0.627

 Overweight

16.86

11.92

23.70

<0.001

 Obesity

3.21

3.49

2.81

0.821

HPA

 Yes

38.11

25.58

55.42

<0.001

 No

61.89

74.42

44.58

 

Tobacco use

 Yes

16.36

15.70

17.27

0.691

 No

83.64

84.30

82.73

 

Other harmful substances

 Yes/occasional

20.57

15.99

26.91

0.002

 No

79.43

84.01

73.09

 
  1. Gender related-differences between means or percentages calculated using the t-Student test and χ2
  2. HPA, healthy physical activity, BMI body mass index, SES socioeconomic status.
  3. aValues presented are percentages, unless indicated otherwise.