title: The nutritional intake of undergraduates at the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences.
abstract: In developing countries the cost of treating disease is much more than prevention and so there is now a lot of interest in understanding nutrition. In this pilot study we selected a cohort of pre-clinical students studying at the College of Health Sciences in the University of Zimbabwe. This study was carried to investigate the gender-based weekly consumption of different food categories amongst University of Zimbabwe students. Semi-structured questionnaires distributed to 100 undergraduate students (male= 47; female= 52). The proportion of male and female respondents, age and body weight did not differ significantly. Principal foods consumed by males included sadza and cerevita; naartjies, bananas and avocado pears; tomatoes, onions, covo and spinach; beef; and condensed milk and powdered milk occupied the larger proportions. Females frequently ate a lot of bread, cerevita, sadza and cereal; lemons and avocado pears; onions, tomatoes, rape and covo; beef and soya meat; creamer, powdered milk and milk. This study suggests that females consumed a greater variety of food, including the infrequent types by comparison with men.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physiology, Birmingham City University, 704 Baker Building, Franchise Street, Birmingham B42 2SU, United Kingdom. rgcooperuk@yahoo.com
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chifamba
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult; D015030:Zimbabwe