Correlation between unhealthy dietary behaviors and traditional Chinese medicine constitution among students from colleges and universities of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国基层医药

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the correlation between unhealthy dietary behaviors and traditional Chinese medicine constitution among students from colleges and universities of traditional Chinese medicine.Methods:College students from Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine and Gansu University of Chinese Medicine were collected during April 10-30, 2021 and grouped taking classes as units. Research subjects were obtained by multistage sampling. Their dietary behaviors, traditional Chinese medicine constitution and demographic characteristics were surveyed using questionnaires. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS23.0 software.Results:A total of 3825 college students were investigated and 3 700 valid questionnaires (96.7%) were collected. Peaceful constitution was detected in 7.9% of included college students. There was significant difference in peaceful constitution among studies of different sexes and different body types ( P < 0.05). There were significant differences in attention to diet, physical exercise and body weight control, out-of-control diet, excessive eating and drinking, denying body shape, and dissatisfaction with body shape between patients with peaceful and unbalanced constitutions. Multivariate analysis showed that attention to diet ( OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.14-1.68), physical exercise and body weight control ( OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.03-1.39), dissatisfaction with body shape ( OR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.10-1.45) were conducive to the development of peaceful constitution. Conclusion:Students from colleges and universities of traditional Chinese medicine have a low proportion of developing peaceful constitution. Dietary behaviors may be an important factor that affects the development of peaceful constitution.