Effects of Strict Eating Habits in Childhood Transitioning into College

FN 4400
By: Jessica Wright
Caroline Dill
Olivia Rump

Proposal: Effects of Strict Eating Habits in childhood transitioning into college

Summary
The proposed study will look at non-Caucasian students current eating habits and
compare it to their eating habits as children. We are proposing that students raised in a more
strict environment will have less self-control in their diet when coming to college. This study
could be used to predict a persons future eating habits when attending college. It could benefit
students by recognizing problems before they occur. We are doing an analysis on college age
students age 18-25 and assessing how strict their childhood was, their current eating choices,
and their BMI. With this information we will be able to better understand the role a child's
upbringing has on their food choices.
Introduction
A fair number of studies looks into the diet of college students. However, many of these
focus on Caucasian students. One example is a study by Wengreen and Moncur who had a
population of 97% non-Hispanic white1. Such studies are not representing the world or even
Americas population. People of varying races may be raised differently with contrasting
thoughts on nutrition. Also, race is a risk factor in different nutrition related diagnoses. The
results that come from studies focused on Caucasian students cannot correctly be applied to
non-Caucasian students. A study looking into the habits of non-Caucasian students may help
others to predict and advise on their future eating habits. As well as relating the information to
diseases they are at risk for. We are interested in their diet when coming to college in
comparison to their diets as children. It was hypothesized that non-Caucasian students raised in
a more strict environment will have less self-control in their diet when coming to college.
Rationale and Significance
There are a great deal of studies about college students' eating behaviors, however,
many of these study focus on Caucasian students. We are doing this study so we can focus on
non-Caucasian students, a population that is often overlooked. Not only are we interested in
their present eating behaviors, but their past behaviors as well. Our final study will be comparing
non-Caucasian college students current eating behaviors with their childhood eating behavior.
We hope to investigate the correlations between the two. The study "Changes in eating and
physical activity behaviors across seven semesters of college: living on or off campus matters"
discusses the importance of the time period of college2. They discussed that this is a time of
transition, students are no longer children and are progressing into adulthood. The behaviors
they establish during this time may affect their health throughout their life as well as their risk for
certain diseases. This article shows that this could be an ideal time to educate students and
prevent future problems. There needs to be current data focused on non-Caucasian students so
these recommendations can be made to ensure that they live a long and healthy life. A study by
Branen and Fletcher looked at college students current eating habits in relation to their

Wengreen HJ, Moncur C. Change in diet, physical activity, and body weight among young-adults during the
transition from high school to college. Nutr J 2009;8(32):1-7
2
Small M, Bailey-Davis L, Morgan N, Maggs J. Changes in eating and physical activity behaviors across seven
semesters of college: living on or off campus matters. Health Educ Behav 2013 Aug;40(4):435-441

childhood eating habits, however, their population was 89% Caucasian3. The study found a
relationship in their study, but their data cannot be used to predict the actions of non-Caucasian
students, because of its population. This occurs in many studies, while they may look into
college-aged eating habits or childhood eating habits, non-Caucasian students are not the main
focus of the research.
We are hoping to learn whether or not the strictness of the parents of non-Caucasian
college students has any effect on their child's eating behavior when they come to school. As
well as, what these effects may be. We will be defining the rigidness of the parents by many
factors. Including, how some things like snacks and sugar beverages were limited, as well as
meal time behavior. By our definition, meal time behavior includes where the meals were
consumed, rules about second helpings, cleaning your plate and the parents methods when
they did not like a certain food. We believe that these behaviors that the parents invoke on their
children will have negative consequences on their eating behaviors later in life.
If our hypothesis is correct we may be able to predict a dietary pattern of a student when
they come to school. We would be able to do this by looking at their past eating behavior as well
as the rules their parents set about food and meal times. Using the results of this study we could
identify things from their past that could affect eating habits in the future. The study could benefit
the individual students as well as the universities they attend. For students it could show them
behaviors they are inclined to develop. It may also help to inform them on what effect their
choices have on their health. For the universities it will show them the importance of nutrition
education. Many universities have large meal plans with no explanation of recommended foods.
During orientation, they could have a specific meeting on a students meal plan and some
nutrition education. They could use this information to help students address past eating
behaviors that may affect their future behavior. It will benefit society as a whole by showing
parents what effect their dietary rules will have on the future of their children. This could be one
step towards preventing obesity and obesity related diseases.
This study should be funded because it can help promote the health and well-being of
Americans. Obesity is a clear problem in our country that needs to be addressed. The statistics
show that 68.8% of adult Americans of every race and ethnicity are now considered to be
overweight or even obese4. Obesity effects a higher percentage of non-Caucasian Americans
than Caucasian. The National institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases stated
that 78.8% of Hispanics are overweight or obese and 76.7% of blacks4. This is clearly a
population that needs to be counseled on obesity. This study will help us better predict the
dietary patterns of college aged kids. It may help researchers to better know why a person eats
the way he or she does. Since obesity rates have been rising, this study can be a step in the
right direction of figuring out ways to help decrease that rate.
Research Methods
Since we have three sites where the research will be conducted (Bowling Green State
University, The Ohio State University, and the University of Cincinnati), we will recruit 52 nonCaucasian college students from each university that are between the ages of 18 and 25 for a
Branen L, Fletcher J. Comparison of college students current eating habits and recollections of their childhood
food practices. J Nutr Educ 1999;31(6):304-310
4
US Department of Health and Human Services. Overweight and obesity statistics. niddk. nih. gov/healthinformation/healthstatistics. Pages/overweight-obesitystatistics.aspx Accessed July 2015;17
3

total of 156 participants. We will be recruiting 52 students at each university because we need
a total of 26 participants for each site to finish the entire study in order to detect an effect. The
extra students will help because most of the time, up to half of the participants drop out before
the end of the study, and we need to account for this. We will use multiple methods to recruit the
students. These methods will be: flyers around campus, campus update, campus booths, and
messages on the whiteboards in classes. All methods of recruitment will include information on
exactly what the study is about, what we hope to achieve in doing the study, and what kind of
participants we are looking for. We will also be offering $10.00 compensation to each participant
to thank them for their time and input.
This study will be excluding Caucasians and students outside of the age range. We are
excluding Caucasians because many studies have already been done focusing on this
race/ethnicity but not with non-Caucasians. The point of the study is to focus on minority groups.
We are recruiting within the age range of 18 to 25 because we want to look at the habits of
students within the typical range of college age students. This is also a time when most young
adults have to be on their own for the first time and start making decisions for themselves.
Data Analysis Plan
The tools used to collect data will consist of using a survey, healthy eating index
questionnaire, and BMI of the participants. The method of data collection will be Spearman
rank, because our input is ordinal (strictness) and our output is quantitative (BMI). The survey
will consist of a set of questions that the participants will have to rate the level of strictness in
their home growing up on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the most strict). The advantage to the survey is
the questions will be answered right away, so it is fast and effective. The disadvantages to the
survey is we won't have one on one time asking the participant about their childhood eating
habits, so we will not be able to get a better picture of their childhood. The healthy eating index
(HEI) will be used to get an idea of the foods they consume on a normal bases. The HEI is
used to assess how well a person is following The Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The HEI is
divided into 10 different dietary components, each component has individual scores of up to 10.
The different components are then added up for a maximum score of 100. A person with a high
score is close to meeting the recommendations while a person with a low score is not. BMI will
be used to correlate the level of strictness in their childhood to healthy weights as an adult. BMI
uses a height and weight equation to get a number that is then compared to a scale. The pros of
this are it will help determine how much their eating habits have changed since they've been in
college, and the cons are the students might not tell the truth to look healthier than they are.
There will only be one visit which will probably take up to an hour of the participants time. We,
the researchers will conduct the visits and direct how they go.
Anticipated Results
The results of this study would allow researchers to have a better picture of exactly how
growing up in a strict household can effect food choices later on in life. We anticipated that the
more strict a home is growing up, the more likely a student is to not have very much self-control
in their decisions once on their own. If this hypothesis is correct, we can better predict a
student's food choices as they go off to college. We can better educate first year students as
they start making decisions and can show them how to make smarter decisions.
Conclusion

This study will focus on eating habits of non Caucasian college students, looking at
childhood eating habits, hypothesizing if the student grew in a strict eating environment they will
have less self control when making food choices. Upon the completion of this study, we will
have a better understanding of the effect of strictness in childhood of food choices later on in
life. This will allow researchers to better predict how a student will act once they go on their own
and make their own decisions. More extensive research would need to be done in order to fully
understand the process behind this, but this experiment is the starting point.

Works Cited
(1) Branen L, Fletcher J. Comparison of college students current eating habits and
recollections of their childhood food practices. J Nutr Educ 1999;31(6):304-310.
(2) Matvienko O, Lewis DS, Schafer E. A college nutrition science course as an intervention to
prevent weight gain in female college freshmen. J Nutr Educ 2001;33(2):95-101.
(3) Nelson MC, Story M, Larson NI, Neumark Sztainer D, Lytle LA. Emerging adulthood and
college aged youth: an overlooked age for weight related behavior change. Obesity
2008;16(10):2205-2211.
(4) Skinner JD. Changes in students' dietary behavior during a college nutrition course. J Nutr
Educ 1991;23(2):72-75.
(5) Small M, Bailey-Davis L, Morgan N, Maggs J. Changes in eating and physical activity
behaviors across seven semesters of college: living on or off campus matters. Health Educ
Behav 2013 Aug;40(4):435-441.
(6) Wengreen HJ, Moncur C. Change in diet, physical activity, and body weight among youngadults during the transition from high school to college. Nutr J 2009;8(32):1-7.

PERSONNEL

Caroline
Cincinnati
Olivia BGSU
Jessica OSU
Haley Grad
Student
Fruity
Franny Grad
Vegetable
Vincent
Grad
Student
Total
FRINGE
BENEFITS
17% of total
personnel
SUPPLIES
Detecto 438
Scale
(3x240)
BIC
Ballpoint
pens,
Medium
point,
60/box
Dixon
Ticonderoga
#2 Soft
pencil
yellow
72/pack
Staples
17710-cc
Desktop
Stapler
(5.49 x3)
Swingline
standard

Full year
salary
70,200

% effort

Cost

0.1

$7,020.00

58,000
85,000
18000

0.13
0.1
0.5

$7,540.00
$8,500.00
$9,000.00

18000

0.5

$9,000.00

18000

0.5

$9,000.00

$50,060.00

$8,510.20

$720.00

$5.29

$10.00

$16.47

$1.50

staples
10,000count
Staples
multiuse
copy paper,
8 1.2" x 11",
8 ream case
(2x 24.99)
Staples
Plastic
Memo
Clipboards,
Black &
Blue, 6" x
9", 2 pack
(2x3.79)
Small spiral
bound
notebooks
100
sheets/20
notebooks
Total
Supplies
ADMIN
Participant
payments
(52x10)
Printing advertising
(flyers to
recruit
participants)
Total Admin
TRAVEL
3 professors
going to 2
conferences
3 grad
students
going to 1
conference
Total Travel

$49.98

$7.58

$24.00

$835

$1,680.00

$500.00

$2,180.00

$6,000.00

$3,000.00

$9,000.00

Total Direct
Costs
INDIRECT
COSTS
39% of
Direct Costs

$70,585.02

$27,528.16

Total Funds
Requested

$98,113.18

Budget Justification
Personnel: The three PI and three graduate students will be offered partial salaries. 10% of two
professors' salaries, and 13% of one of the professor's salary will be paid due to the higher
percent effort of this professor. The total cost of the three PI will be $23,060. Three graduate
students are requested. The total cost for the graduate students is $27,000. Overall, the grant
will cover $50,060 of the salary costs.
Supplies: The total cost for the supplies is $835. This includes a Detecto 438 Scale for
collecting weights of participants. (3, at $240) for a total of $720. Other supplies include general
office supplies (pens, pencils, stapler and stables, copy paper, clipboards, and spiral notebooks.
Administration: Each participant will receive $10 upon completion as compensation.
52 participants per universityx $10=$520x3= $1. Additional funds will be used for printing
advertisements to recruit participants of $500. The total administration costs are $1020.
Travel: $9,000 are requested for travel for the 3 PI to attend and present findings at two
conferences at $6000 and for the 3 graduate students to attend one conference at $3000. The
funds will cover travel and hotel as well as the costs of the conferences. One such conference
would include the Weight Management Dietetic Practice Group Annual Symposium in Baltimore,
Maryland.