FOOD HABITS AND OBESITY: A STUDY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF SRINAGAR

Overweight and obesity are most important health problem in all societies and its prevalence is rapidly increasing. The relationship between obesity and many diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease and breast cancer has been proven in many studies. Unhealthy dietary habits are among the factors that can have adverse effects on weight status in young adulthood. The purpose of this cross sectional study was to assess the frequency of intake of energy giving, body building and protective foods by the young adults belonging tyo various universities of district Srinagar of Kashmir. Results of the study revealed that cereal intake was found to be high, body building foods especially flesh foods and eggs were taken frequently in the diet , protective foods consumption was little less but the consumption of junk foods was high by the university students. Introduction: Obesity is defined as an impaired physical composition of the body as a form of increasing in the amount of adipose tissue and is very common (Onis & Blossner, 2000). Obesity prevalence is increasing in the society and currently 0.5 billion of world population have obesity. Increasing urbanization and industrialization in many countries, along with behavioral and nutritional changes to feeding high fat and energy and lack of movement, cause to increasing obesity in in many communities . Obesity leads to many diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and some cancers (James, 2001). In addition, obesity and its complications impose a great financial load on the individual and society. Obesity occurs by the result of several factors including genetics, hormonal factors and metabolic behavior (Windmaier & Raff, 2006). Physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits are among the main behaviors that potentially have adverse effects on weight status in young adulthood, and consequently, the future health of adults (Allom & Mullan, 2014). As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2014). the adult disease burden is due to health risk behaviors that start during early stages of life (e.g., unhealthy eating practices). For example, most of the young adults do not consume the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables, nuts, and seeds. On the other hand, the consumption of added sugars, processed meats, and trans fats is higher than the recommended daily intake (Blondin, 2016). It has been shown that after the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, © 2021 JETIR March 2021, Volume 8, Issue 3 www.jetir. org (ISSN-2349-5162) JETIR2103178 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir. org 1296 when independency increases, young adults are continuously challenged to make healthful food choices (Stok et al, 2018). Along with unhealthy eating behaviors, a new series of weight-related behavioral patterns begins throughout this period, such as excessive alcohol consumption and a low level of physical activity. According to the literature university is a critical period for young adults regarding food choices and their relationship with weight gain. (Crombie et al, 2009; Vella, 2009; Racette et al, 2008). Various poor eating habits have been noted among university students in many recent studies. Brown conducted an experiment in which they implemented interventions on vending machine sales on a university campus. They stated that many students tended to select food according to convenience, taste, time, and price rather than nutritional values. Many other students tended to choose quick and tasty options, which were usually available through vending machines . (Brown et al, 2014). Dietary habits of young adults are now affected by the fast-food market. This is the reason that overweight and obesity are increasingly observed among the young. Universities may contribute significantly in reducing the prevalence of obesity among the young population by promoting healthy eating habits. Universities can provide an ideal forum for reaching out to a large number of young adults through nutrition education programs that may positively influence students' eating habits by by inculcating healthy food choices. (Shommo, 2014). A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 228 students in a university setting . A food frequency questionnaire was used as a tool of the study . It was found that food habits such as daily Breakfast consumption, light meals, eating with a family, intake of soft drinks had insignificant impacts on BMI (P > 0.05) (Fayez, 2017) . Trends in vegetable consumption show younger adults to be the poorest consumers, for example, in France [Tamers et al., 2009]. Young adults have also shown the greatest intakes of food prepared outside the home [Powell et al., 2012]. Studies have also indicated that consuming fast food two or more times per week is associated with increase in waist circumference ( abdominal obesity) in young adults in Australia [Pereira et al., 2015]. Another cross sectional study was done on students of colleges and university aged 18 22 from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chosen by randomly sampling method. Results revealed that majority of students preferred to take natural drinks (68.7%) with no significant differences between BMI categories. Moreover Frequency of drinking soft beverages 3 or more per week was reported by 38.3% . Fast foods was being consumed 3 or more times per week by 41.3% . It is worth mentioning that 84.8% of students reported eating snacks 3 or more times per week with no significant differences between BMI categories. (El Hakeem, 2015). Therefore within Kashmiri context it becomes important to understand the current food habits and intake of the young adults belonging to universities. Thus the present study was undertaken with an aim to assess the intake of eb=nergy giving, body building , © 2021 JETIR March 2021, Volume 8, Issue 3 www.jetir. org (ISSN-2349-5162) JETIR2103178 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir. org 1297 protective and junk foods by the young adults belonging to various universities of Srinagar district of Kashmir, J & K.