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
ABSTRACT
Prevalence of obesity in Malaysia has been steadily rising over the last two decades. Therefore, the efforts towards curbing this problem is becoming increasingly necessary. The main objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the effectiveness of obesity projects conducted by the NGOs funded by the Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MHPB). In this study, the secondary data from the final reports of 22 obesity projects were analyzed to evaluate its effectiveness. All the information in the final report was transferred into the formative evaluation forms prepared by MHPB. The effectiveness of obesity projects was determined through the level of achievement of health literacy by using 21 indicators validated data extraction tool based on the RE-AIM Model. Projects which achieved 15 to 21 marks are considered to be of high quality, 8 to 14 marks are considered to be of moderate quality and 0 to 7 marks are categorized as low quality. Using the Cohen’s Kappa test to assess the inter-rater reliability towards 21 indicators validated data extraction tool based on the RE-AIM Model, it was found that there was very high level of inter-rater agreement (K = 0.868). From the 22 obesity projects studied, none was considered to be of high quality, 21 projects were found to have a moderate quality and 1 project was found to be of low quality. There was no significant difference on the percentage achievement of health literacy between different duration of project undertaken (p > 0.05). Based on the health screening of 1982 project participants, 333 (16.8%) are overweight and 354 (17.9%) are obese. In conclusion, although majority of the projects were successfully carried out by the NGOs. A follow-up study is needed to monitor lifestyles change which may eventually lead to reduction in the prevalence of obesity in the community where the projects were executed