EATING BEHAVIOR, FOOD CONSUMPTION, COOKING SKILLS AND SELF-ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Authors

  • Isabela Araujo Fernandes Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná
  • Caryna Eurich Mazur Universidade do Oeste do Paraná - UNIOESTE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1278-5963
  • Gabriela Datsch Bennemann
  • Mariana Abe Vicente Cavagnari

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20873/2025_jul_16762

Abstract

The study aims to characterize eating behavior and consumption, cooking skills, and self-assessment of health among college students. This is a cross-sectional observational study carried out with students from a public university in Paraná, with the application of an online questionnaire on sociodemographic data, aspects of eating behavior, cooking skills, food consumption, and self-assessment of health. A total of 650 undergraduate students participated in the study, 70% of whom were female. The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) was 24.1 + 4.58 kg/m². The perceptions of college students about cooking skills led to the belief that cooking is laborious (49.2%) and tiring (32.8%) but cooking at home helps to eat healthier. There was a high prevalence in the consumption of beans (70.5%), fresh fruits (53.6%), and vegetables (73.1%), as well as a good self-assessment of the students' health as eutrophic (54.3%), with a high prevalence of eating behavior suggestive of orthorexia (19.7%). The present study shows that the perceptions of young college students about cooking skills lead to healthy food consumption, with high prevalence in the self-assessment of health classified as "good" associated with the eutrophic nutritional status of students.

Published

2025-07-17

How to Cite

Araujo Fernandes, I., Eurich Mazur, C., Datsch Bennemann, G., & Abe Vicente Cavagnari, M. (2025). EATING BEHAVIOR, FOOD CONSUMPTION, COOKING SKILLS AND SELF-ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY. DESAFIOS - Revista Interdisciplinar Da Universidade Federal Do Tocantins, 12(4), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.20873/2025_jul_16762