Eating Habits of International Students: Results and Discussion

This study examines the eating habits of international students and whether their eating habits have changed after ECU. Results from descriptive statistics and inferential analysis are presented through figures and tables. The study includes demographic variables such as age, gender, degree course, name of the course, year of course, source of information about health, and other activities of the students. The study also examines the frequency of different types of food eaten by the students and their eating habits for breakfast, lunch, and evening meal. The study concludes that more than half of the students said that there is a lot of change in the eating habits after ECU.

Contents
Results and Discussion.................................................................................................................................1
Discussion..................................................................................................................................................16
References.................................................................................................................................................17
List of Tables
Table 1 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different age group.................11
Table 2 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different gender......................12
Table 3 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different course......................13
Table 4 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different groups of student with
different source of information..................................................................................................................14
Table 5 Results from the Chi square test to examine the difference in the sources of information for
different age group....................................................................................................................................16
List of Figures
Figure 1 Results from the descriptive statistics............................................................................................2
Figure 2 Age distribution of the respondents...............................................................................................3
Figure 3 Degree of the respondents.............................................................................................................4
Figure 4 Name of the course of the respondents..........................................................................................4
Figure 5 Results from the year of course of the students.............................................................................5
Figure 6 Source of information of the respondents......................................................................................6
Figure 7 Whether the students are staying away are staying with the parents..............................................7
Figure 8 Descriptive statistics of other activities of the students.................................................................7
Figure 9 Frequency of the eating habits-1...................................................................................................8
Figure 10 Frequency of the eating habits-2.................................................................................................8
Figure 11 Frequency of the eating habits-3.................................................................................................9
Figure 12 Frequency of the eating habits-4.................................................................................................9
Figure 13 Type of food eaten.....................................................................................................................10
Figure 14 Breakfast eating habit of the respondents..................................................................................10
Figure 15 Lunch eating habits of the respondents......................................................................................11
Figure 16 Evening meal eating habits of the students................................................................................11
Figure 17 Whether the eating habit of the students changed or not...........................................................13

Results and Discussion
This section is devoted to examine the eating habits of the international students and to examine
whether the eating habits of the students have changed after the ECU. To analyze the same the
primary data was collected and the analysis was conducted in SPSS. Since the data was in text
format the data was first coded in excel and then imported to the SPSS for further analysis. In the
first section the results from the descriptive statistics have been shown. The findings from the
inferential analysis is shown in the second part.
Descriptive statistics
Findings from the descriptive statistics is presented in the current section. Since all the data in
the analysis was categorical variables, so the graphical representation of the findings have been
shown in instead of the numerical format. The categorical variable are easy to understand when
presents in the graphical format.
21%
71%
8%
Age
18-24
25-34
35-44
Figure 1 Results from the descriptive statistics

The first figure is of the distribution of the age. As the figure indicates, 71 % of the respondents
are in the age group of 25-34 followed by 21 % of the respondents in the age group of 18-24.
The higher proportion of the respondents in such younger group is because the survey was
conducted among the students and in most cases the students are in these age group. Only 8 % of
the respondents are in the age group 35-44. This shows that this study will give an idea about the
eating habits of the younger generation.
66%
34%
Gender
female
male
Figure 2 Age distribution of the respondents
Another demographic variable included in the current study is the gender. As the results shows
that proportion of female is 66 % whereas the proportion of the male is only about 34 %. This
shows that there is representation of both genders in the sample, however the female respondents
are higher. This is may be because there are higher number of females in the target population.
One advantage of having higher number of female in the data is that the female are considered to
be more sensitive about the food as compared to the male. So, this study will provide a more
robust results about the eating habits.

14%
86%
Degree_course
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Figure 3 Degree of the respondents
Since the survey was conducted among the students the degree for which the student has taken
admission is also taken into consideration. As the findings suggest 86 % of the students are from
the postgraduate course whereas rest of the students belongs to the undergraduate course. The
higher representation of post graduate students is helpful because the students in undergraduate
are of the nature to try new things whereas while coming to the post graduate student becomes
more concern about the health and the eating habits.
Masters of
public health Project
management Master in
information
system
Nursing Master of
professional
accounting
engeneering others
31.5
16.4
13.7
1.4
8.2
5.5
23.3
Name of the course
Figure 4 Name of the course of the respondents

In terms of the course, most of the students are from the course Masters of public health followed
by the project management course whose proportion in the sample is 16.4 %. Apart from this
other courses included in the study are master in information system, nursing, master of
professional accounting and engineering. This shows that there is representation from all courses
in the sample. This will allow the researcher to generalize the results from the analysis.
First year Second year Third year
23.3
52.1
24.7
Year of course
Figure 5 Results from the year of course of the students
Furthermore the results from the variable, the year of course is shown in the above figure. As the
figure shows 52 % of the respondents are in the second year followed by 24.7 % of the students
in the third year. The proportion of the students in the first year is 23.3. The higher proportion of
the students in the second year is may be because most of the students are from the post graduate
which is usually of 2 years.

internet University/school/training
courses Family other
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0 74.0
13.7
4.1 8.2
Source of information about health
Figure 6 Source of information of the respondents
Another important variable for the current study is the source of information about the health
issues. As expected 74 % of the students said that they get information from internet followed by
University/school training courses. The proportion of information from family and other sources
are very less as compared to the internet. With increase in the use of social media and the
development in the information technology most of the information is available online which is
most convenient and cheap source of information. So, in the recent time not only the students but
people in all age group prefer to search it online instead of asking family friends or read books.
60%
37%
3%
You are living with?
Away from your family
With your family
other

Figure 7 Whether the students are staying away are staying with the parents
Another question asked to the respondents was whether they live with their family or away from
family. As the figure above shows most of the students stay away from the family. The higher
percentage of students staying away from the family was expected as the students are the
international students. Also, another important point is that the students who stays with their
family are expected to follow the healthy food as compared to the students who stay away from
the family.
Everyday 1-2 times a
week 1-3 times a
month 3-4 times a
week 5-6 times a
week Rarely in a
month Never
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Other actitivies
Pub Movies Disco/night clubs sports/gym other
Figure 8 Descriptive statistics of other activities of the students
In addition another question was asked about the other activities of the students apart from their
studies. As the results shows different options was given to the students and they were asked to
give the frequency of such activities. As the results shows, the everyday activities includes
movies, sports gym and other activities. However proportion of such students is very low. On
other hand for most of the students do not go to pub and disco. Also the proportion of student
who rarely goes to sports/gym is also higher.
Eating habits

Everyday 1-2 times a
week 1-3 times a
month 3-4 times a
week 5-6 times a
week Rarely in a
month Never
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Eating Habits
Fresh Fruit raw Veg Cooked vegetables
Cakes/biscuite Grain Cereals Meat
Figure 9 Frequency of the eating habits-1
Results shows that cooked vegetables is eaten everyday by most of the students followed by
grain and cereals. On the other hand meat is the never eaten by most of the students.
Everyday 1-2 times a
week 1-3 times a
month 3-4 times a
week 5-6 times a
week Rarely in a
month Never
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Eating habits
Fish Dairy Meat_prdocut Eggs Hot Chips
Figure 10 Frequency of the eating habits-2
Among other food, dairy products eaten daily by the students followed by eggs and the meant
products and fish are never eaten by most of the students.

Everyday 1-2 times a
week 1-3 times a
month 3-4 times a
week 5-6 times a
week Rarely in a
month Never
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
Eating habits
Pulses Fast food Snacks Fresh fruit juice
Figure 11 Frequency of the eating habits-3
Furthermore pulses are eaten by some of the students on daily basis whereas most of them eat only 3-4
times a week. Only small proportion of students have not eaten fast food.
Beer Wine Soft Drinks Spirits Tea/coffee Sauces Milk
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Eating Habits
Everyday 1-2 times a week 1-3 times a month 3-4 times a week
5-6 times a week Rarely in a month Never
Figure 12 Frequency of the eating habits-4
Lastly the alcoholic products are never used by the students. Milk is used every day by most of
the students.

homecooked Cold meals Re-heated
meals Frozen meals Ready meals home made
sandwiches take away
foods
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Type of food eaten
Everyday 1-2 times a week 1-3 times a month 3-4 times a week
5-6 times a week Rarely in a month Never
Figure 13 Type of food eaten
Results shows that home cooked food is eaten by students on daily basis whereas cold meals, frozen
meals and take away foods are rarely eaten by the students.
At home Cafe/restaurant I usually don't eat
67.1
6.8
26.0
Breakfast
Figure 14 Breakfast eating habit of the respondents
In this section the results for the eating habits of the respondents have been collected. As the
figure above shows when asked about the breakfast 67 % of the students said that they eat
breakfast at home whereas 26 % said they do not eat breakfast at all. Since most of the students
are expected to be at home in the morning the breakfast eating at home is higher.

At home Cafe/restaurant Packed lunch
prepared at home I usually don't eat
lunch other
34.2
13.7
41.1
9.6
1.4
Lunch
Figure 15 Lunch eating habits of the respondents
When it comes to lunch 41 % said they have lunch prepared at home and another 34 % said they
have lunch at home only. The proportion of students having lunch at café is higher as compared
to the breakfast.
At home Cafe/restaurant I usually don't eat an evening
meal
78.1
9.6 12.3
Evening meal
Figure 16 Evening meal eating habits of the students

Finally for the evening meal, 78 % said that they have it at home. This indicates that students try
to have the evening meal at home. They get back from college/work in the evening and have
their food at home.

Yes, but not much Yes, a lot No, not at all
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
35.6
53.4
11.0
Does eating habit change after ECU
Figure 17 Whether the eating habit of the students changed or not
The last part of the descriptive statistics shows the results whether there is difference in the
eating habits after the ECU. As the results shows more than half of the students said that there is
lot of change in the eating habits whereas 35 % there is little change. Only 11 % said there is no
change. So, overall the ECU has changed the eating habits of most of the students
Inferential analysis
For the inferential analysis the chi square test has been conducted. Since the results shows that
there is change in the eating habits after the ECU, so it has been tested whether there is
significant change in the eating habits for different gender, age, course and year of course.
Chi square test
Age and the change in the eating habits
age * q15_does eating habit change after ECU Crosstabulation
Count
q15_does eating habit change after ECU Total
Yes, but not much Yes, a lot No, not at all

age
18-24 7 6 2 15
25-34 19 28 5 52
35-44 0 5 1 6
Total 26 39 8 73
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 4.517a 4 .341
Likelihood Ratio 6.483 4 .166
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.750 1 .186
N of Valid Cases 73
a. 4 cells (44.4%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .66.
Table 1 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different age group
As the results from the chi square tests shows that the value of Pearson Chi-square is 4.517
which have 4 degrees of freedom. However the two tailed significance value is more than 0.05.
This indicates that there is no statistically significant difference in the change in the eating habits
for students in different age. One reason for such results is may be because most of the students
in one particular age group so the difference is not significant.
Gender and the change in the eating habits
gender * q15_does eating habit change after ECU Crosstabulation
Count
q15_does eating habit change after ECU Total
Yes, but not much Yes, a lot No, not at all
gender female 21 21 6 48
male 5 18 2 25

Total 26 39 8 73
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 5.363a 2 .068
Likelihood Ratio 5.539 2 .063
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.484 1 .223
N of Valid Cases 73
a. 1 cells (16.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 2.74.
Table 2 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different gender
The second chi square test has been conducted to examine whether there is statistical significant
difference in the eating habits for male and female. The results for the same are shown in the
table above. As the first table suggests out of 48 females 21 said there is little change and 21 said
there is a lot of change. So for female students there is change. In case of the male out of 25 18
said there is a lot of change. Furthermore the results from the Pearson Chi square test indicates
that the pearson value of 5.363 is not statistically significant at 95 % confidence interval.
However the value is significant at 90 % confidence interval as the two tailed significance value
is less than 0.1.
Course degree and the eating habit
Degree_course * q15_does eating habit change after ECU Crosstabulation
Count
q15_does eating habit change after ECU Total
Yes, but not
much
Yes, a lot No, not at all

Degree_course Undergraduate 4 6 0 10
Postgraduate 22 33 8 63
Total 26 39 8 73
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.426a 2 .490
Likelihood Ratio 2.508 2 .285
Linear-by-Linear Association .664 1 .415
N of Valid Cases 73
a. 2 cells (33.3%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.10.
Table 3 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different course
The third chi square test whether there is significant difference in the eating habits of the students
from different course. As the results suggest, in this case also the Pearson chi square test of 1.42
with 2 degrees of freedom is not statistically significant at 95 % confidence interval. So, it can be
concluded that for undergraduate and the post graduate students there is no difference in the
eating habits. As the results from the descriptive statistics shows that for most of the students the
eating habits have changed, so it can be concluded that for most of them (both undergraduate and
post graduate) the eating habits have changed. The chi square is significant if for some students
the eating habits changes and for some students the eating habits do not change.
Source of information and change in the eating habits
source of information about health * q15_does eating habit change after ECU
Crosstabulation

Count
q15_does eating habit change after
ECU
Total
Yes, but not
much
Yes, a lot No, not at
all
source of information
about health
internet 20 29 5 54
University/school/training
courses
2 7 1 10
Family 1 1 1 3
other 3 2 1 6
Total 26 39 8 73
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 3.963a 6 .682
Likelihood Ratio 3.609 6 .729
Linear-by-Linear Association .077 1 .781
N of Valid Cases 73
a. 8 cells (66.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .33.
Table 4 Results from the chi square test for the change in eating habit for different groups of
student with different source of information
The next table as shown above is to test the statistical difference in the eating habit on the basis
of the source of information. As discussed in the previous section there were various source of

information for health related issues which were used by the students. As the results shows, for
this case also the Pearson Chi square is 3.963 and its significance value at two tailed is 0.682.
Since the 95 % interval for confidence have been taken into consideration the value is not
significant. This indicates that the change in the eating habits do not change with the change in
the source of the information. The results for source of information have shown that internet is
the most used source for information and also most of the students said that there is change in the
eating habits. Since the results for most of the students is similar the chi square do not show
significant difference from one group to another.
source of information about health * age Crosstabulation
Count
age Total
18-24 25-34 35-44
source of information
about health
internet 9 40 5 54
University/school/training
courses
6 4 0 10
Family 0 3 0 3
other 0 5 1 6
Total 15 52 6 73
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 13.383a 6 .037
Likelihood Ratio 13.813 6 .032
Linear-by-Linear Association .085 1 .770
N of Valid Cases 73
a. 9 cells (75.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .25.

Table 5 Results from the Chi square test to examine the difference in the sources of information
for different age group
The above results from the chi square test shows that the value of Pearson Chi square is 13.383
with 6 degrees of freedom the value is statistically significant. This refers that there is
statistically significant difference in the source of information for different age groups. In other
words students in difference age group use difference sources to get the information about the
health related issues. As results suggest higher proportion of students in the age group 25-34
gets information from internet whereas the students in the age group 18-24 gets information from
university/college trainings.
Discussion
The findings from the descriptive and the inferential analysis have shown some pattern about the
eating habits of the students. The first observation is that internet is the most popular source of
information for the students. The sub division of the internet on social media, newspapers and
blogs would have given clearer picture about the behavior(Kabir, Miah & Islam 2018). This is
because the younger students have expected to collect information from the social media and
other students from newspaper and articles. Another results from the analysis is that most of
them are living away from the family(Hartwell, Edwards & Brown 2011; Ganasegeran et al.
2012). So whatever they are eating, they have to either prepare it themselves of buy it from
outside. So, students either choose to have cheap foods or the one which are easy to make. This
may also have affected the eating habits of the students. If the students stays with their parents
they are expected to eat healthier food. This is either because of the pressure from the family to
eat healthy food of influence by the family members to eat healthy(Siahpoush et al. 2014; Hamil
& Hassan 2012). Furthermore the results also shows that the students neither go to the pub or
disco neither they go for sports of gym regularly. This indicates that the students are more
focused on their studies and they are not exploring other options much. If they starting going to
the pub and disco more frequently, it is expected to have negative impact on their
health(Edwards, Hartwell & Brown 2010). On the other hand, if the students goes to the gym or
sports daily are expected to have better health. In addition for breakfast and evening meal most

of the students prefer at home, whereas for lunch the percentage of students having in the café is
higher as compared to other meals. This indicates that students tried to have food at home
whenever possible(Alakaam et al. 2015; Hartwell, Edwards & Brown 2011).
References
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psychological factors affecting eating habits among university students in a malaysian medical
school: A cross-sectional study’, Nutrition Journal, vol. 11, pp. 44–48.
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London.
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learned’, British food journal, vol. 113, no. 11, pp. 1393–1405.
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