Abstract:
Obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century (WHO, 2010a). University students constitute a specific community (Krzyszycha et al., 2008) and leaving home is a time when changes in dietary intake are likely (Edwards and Meiselman, 2003). Aim of this study: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity and overweight and its determents among those students. Methodology: The present study was cross sectional conducted among 567 undergraduate girl students chosen randomly of Assiut University dormitory in Upper Egypt. Data were collected with self-administrated questionnaires and weight & height were assessed. Results: The obesity and overweight prevalence were 13.1% and 30.3% respectively in contrast to a negligible underweight percentage, Obesity and overweight were significantly associated with some variables like age, dormitories residence duration, balanced diet concept, number of meals eaten per day, some of eating habits in different situations, maternal obesity, sleeping hours per night and physical exercise. Conclusion: dormitories female students are special important group of university students and their residence durations and circumstances they live have effect on their weight status.
Recommendations: we recommend provision of nutritional consultant to dormitories female students, more clarification of students' knowledge about balanced diet concept& correcting the false concept of missing meals to lose extra weight, provision of more psychosocial support to those students by the dormitory supervisors, and encouragement of physical activity in the dormitory.