Diet Quality among Students Attending an Australian University Is Compromised by Food Insecurity and Less Frequent Intake of Home Cooked Meals. A Cross-Sectional Survey Using the Validated Healthy Eating Index for Australian Adults (HEIFA-2013)

Poor diet quality is commonly reported in young adults. This study aimed to measure the diet quality of students attending a large Australian university (including domestic and international students), and to examine the effect of food security status and other key factors likely to impact their diet quality. Using the Automated Self-Administered 24-h recall Australian version, a cross-sectional survey collected dietary recalls from domestic and international students in one university in Sydney. Diet quality was assessed using the validated Healthy Eating Index for Australian Adults (HEIFA-2013) which gives a score out of 100. Food security status was measured by the 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module. Differences in the mean HEIFA-2013 scores by student characteristics were determined by analysis of covariance. A total of 141 students completed one dietary recall. The mean HEIFA-2013 score for students was low (mean 52.4, 95% CI 50.0-54.8). Food-insecure students had a poorer diet quality (mean 43.7, 95% CI 35.7-51.8) than their food-secure peers (mean 53.2, 95% CI 50.8-55.7, p = 0.027). The mean HEIFA-2013 score was similar in domestic (mean 52.5, 95% CI 49.9-55.2) and international students (mean 51.9, 95% CI 46.3-57.5, p = 0.845). Those reporting self-perceived excellent cooking skills and higher cooking frequency had better diet quality. Interventions to improve food and nutrition knowledge and skills and address food insecurity may help tertiary education students cook more frequently and achieve better diet quality.

Automated summary

This study examined the diet quality of students at an Australian university, finding that overall diet quality was low and food-insecure students had poorer diet quality. Additionally, students with excellent cooking skills and higher cooking frequency tended to have better diet quality.