De Montfort University Leicester, England, United Kingdom
Disclosure(s):
Yannan (Jessica) Jin, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: Low adherence to Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been reported to be associated with poorer sleep quality and suboptimal health and wellbeing among university students in several countries. However, evidence in that area is lacking in the UK.
The study aimed to assess the adherence to MedDiet and the overall lifestyle in relation to the wellbeing among students of various socio-demographic characteristics and body weight statuses in the UK.
Methods: The study was cross-sectional. An online survey was used to determine the socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, ethnicity and the year of study); Body Mass Index (BMI); adherence to MedDiet assessed in units of score points, using a 14-item Mediterranean Diet Score Tool (MDST), physical activity level estimated based on the time spent on various types of physical activities in a week, and the self-reported sleep quality using a 5-point Likert-scale (1 Poor – 5 Excellent). Data were analysed using Univariate anlaysis, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis Test, SPSS v29.0.
Results: 44 participants completed the survey (9 males, 35 females). Majority of them (N = 39) were aged between 18 and 24. The main ethic groups were White (N = 24) and Asian (N = 15). Their BMI ranged from 17.4 to 35.9 kg/m2 (Mean 24.3, SD 4.6) and was classified into four groups, including underweight (N = 2), normal weight (N = 19), overweight (N = 11) and Obese (N = 4). The results showed a spread of MedDiet scores between 2 and 11 points (Mean 6.3, SD 2.1). The estimated physical activity level lied between 1.4 and 1.9 (Mean 1.6, SD 0.16). Significant variations in MedDiet scores were observed across different ethics groups (P = 0.022), undergraduate-study year groups (P = 0.046); and sleep quality groups (good vs average) (P = 0.041). In addition, normal-weight group appeared to have a significantly higher level of physical activity compared to both underweight (P = 0.048) and overweight (P = 0.028) groups.
Conclusions: The findings highlighted the association between diet and sleep quality, and the variations in dietary and lifestyle practice across different student populations. Future interventions are needed to unravel the cause-effect relationships between diet, lifestyle and wellbeing among university students in the UK.
