Evaluation of the nutritional knowledge level and the frequency of obesity of university students staying in dormitories afiliated to the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Bolu city center

The aim of our study is to determine the nutritional habits, obesity prevalence and nutritional knowledge levels of university students staying in dormitories. The study is a cross-sectional study conducted on students living in dormitories in Bolu city center. A survey form was used as a data collection tool in the research conducted with the participation of 309 students between December 2020 and February 2021. In this form, there are questions to question students' general and health information, nutrition and consumption habits, physical activity levels, anthropometric measurements, frequency of food consumption and nutritional knowledge levels. The average age of the students is 21.3±1.7 years and 50.8% of our sample is female students. 69.6% of the participants were normal, 23.0% were overweight/obese and 7.4% were underweight. 55% of the students stated that they skipped the main meal and 69.9% of them stated that they skipped snacks. The most skipped main meal was lunch, and the most skipped snack was the mid-morning meal. Most of the students (75.7%) did not take health/nutrition related courses. The frequency of eating out increases as you go to the upper classes. Most of the students (83.2%) are insufficient in terms of physical activity. Basic nutrition and food preference scores of female students are higher than male students. No difference was observed between students' knowledge levels according to BMI groups. Although the nutritional knowledge level of the students increased as they went to the upper grades, it was determined that the frequency of eating out among the senior students increased. Therefore, it is important to have nutritional knowledge as well as transforming that knowledge into behavior. The eating habits of students staying in dormitories during the university period may change over time. Therefore, it is important that students learn about adequate and balanced nutrition by accessing information about nutrition from the right source. It is necessary to raise awareness of the students about the implementation of healthy nutrition and physical activity and to increase the level of knowledge of the students. It will be beneficial to provide regular trainings in this direction and to follow up the students by experts in the dormitories.