ABSTRACT
This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the involvements of activities at the residential college with the nutritional status of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Kuala Lumpur students and also to identify dietary habit of the students and determine the availability of healthy food around them. A total 106 student of second to fourth year of UKM Kuala Lumpur were involved in this study (20.8% male and 79.2% female). Subject’s food intake data were collected by using three day food diary. The involvement in college activities and the availability of healthy food were determined by specifi c questionnaire, which were developed for this study. Body weight, height, waist circumference, percentage of body fat and body mass index was also measured. The study showed that majority of the subjects (62.3%) is actively involved in residential college activities. Among the subjects that are actively involved in residential college activities, 5.3% of male subjects and 31.9% of female were underweight. 68.4% of male and 55.3% of female had normal body weight. 21% of male and 8.5% of female were pre obese. In addition, 5.3% (n = 1) of male subjects and 4.3% (n = 2) of female subjects were obese. From this study, majority of subjects agree that it is easy to get healthy foods in campus. There was a signifi cant positive correlation between energy intake (r = 0.352, p < 0.05) and fat (r = 0.391, p < 0.05) with Body Mass Index (BMI) for the involvement of college activities that are less than three hours. For the involvement of the college activities that are more than three hours, there was a signifi cant positive correlation between energy intake (r = 0.678, p < 0.01), fat (r = 0.550, p < 0.05), carbohydrate (r = 0.685, p < 0.01), protein (r = 0.465, p < 0.05), calcium (r = 0.357, p < 0.05), iron (r = 0.500, p < 0.05), vitamin A (r = 0.733, p < 0.01) and vitamin E (r = 0.582, p < 0.05) with BMI. Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) achievement of energy intake, calcium, ribofl avin, vitamin C and vitamin E were higher among the subjects that involved in college activities less than three hours compared to those who involved in college activities more than three hours. In conclusion, even though there are many subjects who are active, there are still among those who are suffering from being underweight, overweight and obese. Therefore, the involvement in residential college activities does affect the nutritional status of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students