Dinner meal pattern is associated with lower body mass index in university students

Introduction: Entering university is a period marked by changes in lifestyle behaviors, including eating habits and weight status. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the association between dietary patterns for dinner and body mass index among university students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 685 male and female university students. Demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Food intake was assessed by 24-hour dietary recall. Three dietary patterns for dinner were identified in a previous study, using factor analysis with extraction by the principal component method. Dinner was defined as the meal consumed between 5 and 8 p.m. Weight and height were assessed in all students. A generalized linear model with the Gamma family and log link was used to estimate the association of dietary patterns for dinner with BMI, according to socioeconomic status. Results: Among the respondents, 50.1% were males, 78.8% were aged between 16 and 19 years old, and 33.4% had the lowest socioeconomic statuses (C-D-E). The analyses showed an inverse association of the traditional Brazilian dietary pattern for dinner with BMI for the lowest socioeconomic statuses (βaj= 0.93; 95% CI: 0.86;0.99). Conclusions: The dietary pattern for dinner which represented a traditional Brazilian meal, consisting of rice and beans, was associated with a lower BMI among students with lower socioeconomic statuses

Body mass index · Body weight · Food intake · Meal · Obesity · Socioeconomic status · Health and Lifestyle Studies · Nutritional Studies and Diet · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet