Change of Daily-Diet Practices among International Students Studying in Taiwan

• Main Authors: TumuliIulio, 遊敦勵
• Other Authors: Chi-Jen Wang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/85146573473887407419

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 護理學系 === 102 === Background: In recent years, internationalization in higher learning education has become an increasingly important issue in most countries around the world, of which Taiwan is no exception. One cause of this temporary movement is the increasing number of international students searching for higher educational qualifications. Issues of adaptation to a different culture need to be considered in this foreign population. Dietary practice is a foundation of health; it is valuable to explore this topic from the point of view of adapting to a new culture. The purposes of this study were to explore the dietary practices of international students who attended academic programs in Taiwan, and to compare the circumstances in Taiwan with their native countries. Method: A descriptive and cross-sectional design was used in this study. Convenience samples of 150 international students were employed from the two universities in southern Taiwan. A total of 34 items of self-administered questionnaire was developed by researcher, containing demographic, skipping meals with reasons, intake of vegetables and fruits not adhering to World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation with reasons, and high caloric food consumption. The information was collected by web-site questionnaire. McNemar Chi-square test was applied to pair categorical data to examine the dietary changes after coming to Taiwan. Moreover, Pearson chi-square test was used to identify demographic characteristics associated with skipping meals after coming to Taiwan. Result: The practices of daily-diet with significant changes in skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner after coming to Taiwan were 65.3%. 44.0% and 33.0%, respectively. In addition, rates of not adhering to WHO recommendation for intakes of vegetables, fruits and high caloric food were in the range of 24.0 to 38.7%, but there was only vegetable consumption with significant changes to no adherence. Furthermore, personal eating preference was a major reason given for not adhering to WHO recommendations. Associated characteristics such as age, ethnicity and educational level also significantly impacted on skipping meals after coming to Taiwan. Conclusions and Applications: Skipping meals or practices of vegetable intake not adhering to WHO recommendation were significant issues for dietary practices changes among the majority of international students after coming to Taiwan. The study results could provide Office of International Affairs and related institutions with relevant advice to improve healthy diet-practices of international students in Taiwan.