Szlovákiai egyetemi hallgatónők szubjektív és objektív egészségi állapotának kapcsolata

Absztrakt

Between 2013 and 2019, we examined the body composition and lifestyle of 18–24 years old female students (n: 273) by random sampling at the Konstantin Philosopher University in Nitra and at the János Selye University in Komarno. The physical condition, body composition, fitness index, degree of obesity, area of visceral obesity, abdominal obesity were estimated by InBody 720 body composition analyser. We collected data on students’ eating habits, alcohol, drug and smoking consuming habits, and daily fluid intake, self-reported health status and physical self-concept by using questionnaires.

Based on the body mass index, 72% of the examined students had normal nutritional status, 4% were undernourished, 12% were overweight and 5% were obese. It is an interesting data that students’ subjective perceptions of their own nutritional status differed from the measured values, as 44% of them considered themselves overweight or obese. One-third of people having normal nutritional status considered themselves overweight or obese, 70% of those who were actually overweight considered themselves overweight, nearly 30% considered obese and half of those who were truly abnormally obese considered themselves only slightly overweight, and the other half estimated their nutritional status realistically. 22% of students admitted to dieting mainly (81%) to reduce their weight. 65% of dieters had normal nutritional status, 32% are overweight or obese and 3% were undernourished. In terms of body fat percentage, 42% of examined participants were in the normal category, 42% were overweight, 12% were obese and 5% were too lean. In terms of visceral fat 72% of students were in the normal category, 13% were in high and 14% were in critical category for health risk. The distribution of students’ fitness index indicated that their physical activity was insufficient, 46% of them did not reach the average (normal) fitness value. The research results revealed that one-third of students should move toward a healthier, more conscious, more active lifestyle.