title: University students' on-campus food purchasing behaviors, preferences, and opinions on food availability.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Emerging adulthood (18-24 y) where >50% of young adults attend tertiary education, is a transitional period that may provide an opportunity to influence future eating behaviors. The aim of this study was to identify possible strategies for encouraging healthy eating in university food environments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over 4 wk, students from a large university completed an anonymous researcher-designed survey with both closed (n = 41) and open-ended (n = 3) questions assessing food purchasing, food choice behaviors, and opinions of the campus food environment. Results were reported as proportions (%) or mean ± SD. Chi-square analysis was used to determine differences between sex and campuses. The study took place at an Australian urban university with seven campuses. We recruited 653 currently enrolled students by convenience sampling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents were mostly women (77%), aged <25 y (83%), and enrolled full time (96%). Almost all participants purchased food or beverages on campus (93%), with the most frequently purchased items being hot beverages and sandwiches. The greatest determinants of food choice were taste, value, convenience, and cost. Female students placed more importance on health-related factors and followed more special dietary behaviors than male students. The most common improvements suggested were lowering the cost and increasing the variety of food.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As most students purchase food on campus, there are opportunities to intervene to improve diet quality. Our results indicate demand for healthy food and that price manipulation is an important lever for change. This information will be used for changing the local university food environment but may be useful for planning interventions at other universities.
authors.affiliation: The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: Rtam1827@uni.sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.affiliation: The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yassa
authors.affiliation: The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Allman-Farinelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D001628:Beverages; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D063427:Food Quality; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Campus food environments; College food; Food purchasing determinants; University food; Young adults