Eating habits in terms of gender among Turkish agricultural engineering students: a cross-sectional study

The aim of this study was to examine agricultural engineering students' eating habits and the psychological factors affecting these habits. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of 388 agricultural engineering students (40.5 % female, 59.5 % male), aged 20.5 +/- 1.5 years, chosen randomly. The results of the study showed that the majority of students (63.4 %) were of normal weight (by gender - 70.0 % female, 58.9 % male). The prevalence of pre-obesity and obesity were higher among male students (34.2 % and 4.3 %) than females (10.2 % and 2.0 %) respectively. In contrast, 17.8 % of female students were categorized as underweight, as compared to 2.6 % of the males. With regard to eating habits, the majority of students (78.0 %) were not eating meals regularly. Male students (72.7 %) generally followed more regular meal patterns than female students (86.0 %). On the other hand, female students showed healthier eating habits compared to the males in terms of daily breakfast intake and daily fruit and vegetable consumption. When psychological factors were considered, the majority of students were found to eat more when they are bored and when they are happy. Females reported that they eat more because they are feeling bored or feeling happy (68.2 % and 65.0 % respectively), while figures for male students were significantly lower (41.1 % and 47.2 % respectively). Awareness can be achieved by campus-wide information campaigns and workshops focused on aspects of nutrition.