A cross sectional analysis of eating habits and weight status of university students in urban Cameroon

BMC Nutrition

Table 2 Gender differences in the frequency of consumption of selected food items among a randomly selected sample of students at two universities in Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon (N = 906)

Food items	Frequency	Males		Females		p-value
		N = 434		N = 472
		n	%	n	%
Rice	Less than once a week	50	11.5	94	19.9	≤ 0.001
	2 to 4 times a week	251	57.8	265	56.1
	5 or more times a week	133	30.6	113	23.9
Bread	Less than once a week	68	15.7	100	21.2	≤ 0.001
	2 to 4 times a week	217	50.0	259	54.9
	5 or more times a week	149	34.3	113	23.9
Spaghetti	Less than once a week	381	87.8	431	91.3	0.10
	2 to 4 times a week	32	7.4	30	6.4
	5 or more times a week	21	4.8	11	2.3
Beans	Less than once a week	332	76.7	389	82.4	0.05
	2 to 4 times a week	85	19.6	75	15.9
	5 or more times a week	17	3.9	8	1.7
Fried Irish potatoes	Less than once a week	287	66.1	267	56.6	0.01
	2 to 4 times a week	128	29.5	176	37.3
	5 or more times a week	19	4.4	29	6.1
Fried plantain	Less than once a week	376	86.8	399	84.5	0.28
	2 to 4 times a week	50	11.5	58	12.3
	5 or more times a week	8	1.8	15	3.2
Sugar sweetened beverages	Less than once a week	279	64.3	271	57.3	0.11
	2 to 4 times a week	125	28.8	161	34.2
	5 or more times a week	30	6.9	40	8.5
Margarine	Less than once a week	354	81.5	408	86.4	≤ 0.001
	2 to 4 times a week	52	12.0	60	12.7
	5 or more times a week	28	6.5	4	0.8
Sweets/ chocolate	Less than once a week	269	61.9	221	46.7	≤ 0.001
	2 to 4 times a week	124	28.6	190	40.3
	5 or more times a week	41	9.4	61	13.0
Cakes	Less than once a week	279	68.6	372	78.8	≤ 0.001
	2 to 4 times a week	109	25.2	91	19.3
	5 or more times a week	27	6.2	9	1.9
Meat/ fish	Less than once a week	143	32.9	145	30.7	0.08
	2 to 4 times a week	170	39.2	218	46.2
	5 or more times a week	121	27.9	109	23.1
Eggs	Less than once a week	148	34.1	178	37.7	0.33
	2 to 4 times a week	214	49.3	230	48.7
	5 or more times a week	72	16.6	64	13.6

ISSN: 2055-0928