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

BMC Nutrition

Table 3 Odds of overweight/obesity associated with selected dietary behaviors among a randomly selected sample of students at two universities in Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon (N = 906)

Determinants	N	Overweight/obesity
Determinants	N	Frequency (%)	Step 1 Adjusted OR^a	(95% CI)	p-value	Step 2 Adjusted OR^b	(95% CI)	p-value
Breakfast consumption
Skip/rarely	242	23.6	1.8	(1.2–2.9)	0.01	2.2	(1.3–3.5)	0.002
One to two times a week	142	36.6	1.2	(0.8–1.9)	0.39	1.3	(0.8–2.1)	0.22
Three to four times a week	208	26.9	1.1	(0.7–1.6)	0.63	1.2	(0.8–1.8)	0.51
Daily	314	24.5	Ref			Ref
Snacks (in-between meals)
Greater than 3 times a day	68	20.5	2.2	(1.4–5.5)	0.04	2.2	(0.9–5.7)	0.10
Three times a day	36	33.3	1.1	(0.5–2.3)	0.77	0.9	(0.4–2.0)	0.81
Twice a day	134	23.9	1.4	(0.8–2.6)	0.27	1.5	(0.8–2.9)	0.22
Once a day	668	27.5	Ref			Ref
Eating while watching TV
Always	160	30.6	0.8	(0.5–1.4)	0.44	0.6	(0.4–1.1)	0.09
Sometimes	660	25.3	1.1	(0.6–2.0)	0.68	1.0	(0.5–1.8)	0.96
Never	86	30.2	Ref			Ref
Fruits and vegetables consumption
Never/occasionally	658	28.3	0.9	(0.6–1.3)	0.56	0.9	(0.5–1.3)	0.49
Everyday	248	26.2	Ref			Ref
When to stop eating
More than fullness	68	32.4	0.7	(0.4–1.1)	0.14	0.7	(0.3–1.4)	0.32
At fullness	670	26.1	0.7	(0.4–1.3)	0.27	0.7	(0.4–1.2)	0.21
Before fullness	168	26.8	Ref			Ref

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval
^aOdds ratios have been adjusted for the following confounding variables: age, gender, smoking, chronic disease, having a dietary regimen and type of institution
^bOdds ratios have been adjusted for the above confounding variables as well as breakfast consumption, snacks in-between meals, eating while watching TV, fruits and vegetables consumption and when to stop eating

ISSN: 2055-0928