TY - JOUR AU - Çitozi, Robert AU - Bozo, Dhurata PY - 2014/07/20 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Habits in healthy nutrition, obesity, alcohol, smoking, among students of sports University of Tirana JF - Journal of Human Sport and Exercise JA - J. Hum. Sport Exerc. VL - 9 IS - 1proc SE - Proceeding DO - 10.14198/jhse.2014.9.Proc1.12 UR - https://www.jhse.ua.es/article/view/2014-v9-n1-proc-habits-in-healthy-nutrition-obesity-alcohol-smok SP - S291-S299 AB - <p>The deep economic and social transformation that began in Albania in the early 1990s has brought about remarkable changes to the structure of its economy and the living standards of its people. As a consequence, the dietary habits of young adults have been affected; thus, overweight and obesity are increasingly being observed among the young. The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity on a sample of students from the  Sports University of Tirana and to examine their eating habits. A cross-sectional survey of 80 students (57.5% male and 42.5% female), aged 18.46 years, were chosen randomly from the Sports University of Tirana (SUT) during October 2013. Students were asked to fill out a self-reported questionnaire that included questions on their eating, drinking and smoking habits. Also, their weight, height, and body mass index were measured. Body mass index (BMI) was used to assess students' weight status. This study showed that the majority of the students (78.88%) were of normal weight (73.7% male students compared to 82.6% female students). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was not common among male students compared to females (23.6% and 10.3% vs. 2.2% and 1.2%, respectively). In contrast, 5.9% female students were underweight as compared to 0.5% males. Eating habits of the students showed that the majority (70%) reported taking meals regularly. Healthier eating habits of female compared to male students in terms of daily breakfast intake are the same. 38.23% of female students reported eating breakfast daily compared to 45.65% of male students. Intake of colored vegetables and fruits was common among students. A total of 32.5% reported daily intake of colored vegetables with a small gender differences (32.35% females vs. 32.6% males). Alcohol intake to male students in terms of 2or 3 times per week was 2.17% and rarely 56.52%, while to females students was 2.94% and rarely 35.29%. Males at least 1 packet is 23.91% and rarely 15.21% , females at least 1 packet is 11.76% and rarely 5.88%. 70% of our students are never smoker. In spite of the overall low prevalence of overweight and obesity in the studied sample, results indicate that university of sport students would possibly benefit from a nutrition and health promotion program to reduce the tendency of overweight and obesity, especially among male students, and to improve students' eating habits.</p> ER -