Relationship Between Meal Plan, Dietary Intake, Body Mass Index, and Appetitive Responsiveness in College Students

One third of the approximately 23,000 undergraduates in the United States are overweight or obese. College students appear to be more vulnerable to disproportionate weight gain during this time.

Cross-sectional. Diet, body mass index, and appetitive responsiveness were assessed in 80 undergraduates enrolled in three different meal plans, unlimited access, points, and none.

Appetitive responsiveness was positively correlated with fat (r = 0.34, p = .002) but not added sugars across groups. Unlimited access-plan students had higher fat consumption than no-plan students, regardless of appetitive responsiveness. Unlimited access-plan students had higher fruit and vegetable consumption and higher dairy consumption than point-plan students. There were no group differences for body mass index. All groups were below the U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for dairy and fruit and vegetable intake.

Optimizing the college campus food environment toward healthful, affordable choices is likely to improve dietary habits and might minimize college weight gain.