Transitioning from high school to college residence to apartments: Do eating behaviors change or stay the same?

Habits that college students establish as they leave home may have long-reaching effects on their health and that of their future families. Studies from the 1990s reported students using residence dining services ate somewhat healthier than apartment dwellers. Residence dining today includes food courts, delis and snacks, available 7am-1am. This study queried if difference in diet quality persisted, based on residence hall (RH) or apartment (APT) dwelling, and if residing in a Fitness/Wellness Living Learning Center (FWLL) affected diet quality. APT (n=79) and RH (n=113) students indicated their weekly intake of fruit, fruit juice, green salad, potatoes, carrots, and vegetables, based on the 6-item food frequency questionnaire of the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey and expanded to include dairy items. FWLL students (n=87) recorded only BRFSS foods, after a semester-long wellness class. Data, analyzed by chi-squares and t-tests, indicate that FWLL students view exercise (91%, > 5x/week) part of fitness, but not diet. Significantly fewer FWLL students daily included milk, fruit juice, salad or vegetables, compared to APT/RH students. APT/RH students ate and exercised similarly (>50% consuming cheese and fruit daily; exercising > 3x/week.) APT/RH students indicated their current and high school intake of these 11 foods were similar. Results indicate that preferences established during adolescence receive reinforcement from like foods easily available at college. Implications for school/college health educators are to provide students tools to internalize that fitness = exercise + healthy food, and ways to eat healthy in our grab-and-go world.