Modern Lifestyles and Overnutrition among Undergraduate Students in the Northeast of Thailand

Overnutrition among adolescents is one of major global and Thailand public health problems. However, there are limited studies on how modern lifestyle might associate with overnutrition among undergraduate students in the Northeast (NE) of Thailand.

This study aims to determine the prevalence of overnutrition and influence of modern lifestyles on overnutrition among undergraduate students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1, 184 undergraduate students who were selected by using multistage random sampling method from three universities in the NE. A selfadministered structured questionnaire was used for data collecting. The generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) analysis was used to determine the association between modern lifestyles and overnutrition among students when control other covariates and clustering effects and presenting adjusted odds ratio (Adj. OR) with 95% confident interval (CI) were used to demonstrated to strength of association.

The results, most of students were female (70.10%) with the average age of 21.24 ± 1.19 years old. The prevalence of overnutrition was 24.24% (95% CI: 21.87–26.76). Multivariable analysis indicated that the modern lifestyles that associated with overnutrition were: had pizza for ≥ 3 days per week (Adj. OR=3.07, 95%CI: 2.16–4.36;p-value <.001), had buffet for ≥ 3 days per week (Adj. OR=3.44, 95%CI: 2.514.71;p-value <.001), consumed carbonate beverages for ≥ 3 days per week (Adj. OR= 2.37, 95% CI: 1.703.28; p-value <.001), and played games via internet ≥ 3 days per week (Adj. OR=2.31, 95%CI: 1.53–3.48;pvalue <0.001). A significant covariate was alcohol for ≥ 3days per week (Adj. OR=3.12.44, 95%CI: 2.284.28; p-value<.001).