Food consumption frequency in Paramedical students of Babol University of Medical Sciences living in dormitories and other places

The nutritional behavior of students influences on their health and social development. Proper diet and physical activity are their most important protective health behavior. Since, college life years are critical period on the eating behavior changes, therefore, we studied on the frequency of food consumption in paramedical students. This cross-sectional study was performed on 322 paramedical students of Babol University of Medical Sciences from October 2011 to February 2012. They filled a personal data questionnaire (age, gender, place of living, etc) and food consumption frequency. Data were analyzed by SPSS 18. From 322 students, 218 (67.8 %) and 104 (32.2 %) were females and males, respectively. The highest and lowest frequency of food consumption in a month belonged to fruit and nuts groups, respectively. The mean frequency of processed food consumption was significantly higher in dormitory students than non-dormitories (P=0.002). Also, fruits and vegetables were consumed by students living in non-dormitories more than those in dormitories (P=0.03). With regard to the results, proper food consumption in non-dormitories is higher than the dormitories. Therefore, public education, particularly education in schools is suggested to improve food consumption patterns.