Introduction
This paper delves into the general health of female students within a University classroom in Australia. The study will delve into their fat percentage, BMI, nutrient intake, energy expenditure and will compare it to results taken from the general Australian population under the same age group. It is expected that the data presented should help in determining the overall health of this particular population set.
Participants and Methods
The participants from the study were the female students that were located within the university classroom while the method for analysis centered primarily on the use of mean, t-test and standard deviation in order to obtain the results.
The data was obtained through the use of a survey which asked the participants to measure their BMI, skin folds, nutrient intake and energy expenditure (within a 3 day period).
Results
Underweight n=10 (8.13%)
Normal range n= 96 (78.05%)
Pre-obese n=11 (8.94%)
Obese Class I n=6 (4.8%)
Analysis of BMI
After analyzing the BMI of the participants in the class examination, it was revealed that the female student population was actually below the current age specific data of overweight and obese individuals within the Australian population. Within the category of individuals between 18 to 24 years of age, the results showed that only 8.94% of the class were overweight as compared to 16.2% from the Australian population data.
In relation to this, the percentage of those that can be classified as obese only came up to 4.8% as compared to 18.8 percent from the general population data. The mean and standard deviation data also came up as 22.5 and 3.4 respectively. Based on this, the primary assumption that can be derived from the results is that a majority of the female students within the class differ from current BMI trends inherent to their age class within the greater majority of the Australian population4.
Waist Circumference
The data from the study reveals that 79.67% of the female students that have been examined have a waist circumference below 80 while 20.33% have a waist circumference above 80. What this shows is that most of the female students within the class are within an acceptable range so as to not be at an increased rate of risk towards developing metabolic complications3. On the other hand, since 20.33% do have a a high waist circumference, this is indicative of a high possibility of these individuals having unhealthy eating habits or having a generally inactive lifestyle which would result in a higher BMI. In comparison to surveys examining the general population of Australia, it was seen that the percentage of females within the 18-24 age range is lower by 5%.
BIA and Skin Folds
Mean
When analyzing the data it was revealed that in comparison to the general population, the female students in the class have a 18.08% higher probably of increased malnutrition as noted in their BIA when compared to the general population data. This higher rate was also noted in the skin fold measurement which was 3.15% higher than the population norm. This data can be connected to the low BMI and low waist circumference ratios that were noted in the previous sections which show that the females in the class are relatively thin in comparison to the rest of the general population. As such, this data reveals that 30% of the class could have some form of malnutrition or are not eating enough6.
On the other hand, 60.98% of those that were sassed showed that they fell within the normal “healthy range” and was actually 34.68% higher as compared to the general Australian population. This data was supported by the skin fold data which stated that 66.39% of the class was within the “healthy” range as well. This information thus asserts the earlier assumption that economic class does have an impact on the health of the individual. Lastly, the data also showed that the class had a relatively low over nutrition percentage of 9.76% based on the BIA which was also supported by the skin fold measurement which indicated a value of 11.48%
Based on the data presented and an analysis of the mean and SD of the BIA and skin folds, it can be stated that while there is a statistical difference it is only very slight and is indicative that the data is closely linked to each other in terms of supporting the same conclusions.
Graph Analysis
After going over the graph, it can be stated that a majority of the female participants fall within the 20 to 30 range of BIA and the majority are also within the 15 to 30 range when it comes to the skin fold measurements.
Nutrient Analysis
Energy Expenditure Data
Comparison with Active Australian Survey
When comparing the Australian active survey with the results of the study, it was shown that the two results were quite close in relation to the level of energy expended. This may be due to the fact that university students have greater access to the necessary facilities in order to lead an active lifestyle as compared to their sedentary counterparts who do not have the same opportunities8.
Intake of Nutrients
Calcium Intake Analysis
Nutrient Risk Analysis
Analysis of Nutriet Intake
When examining the nutrient intake data, it became immediately obvious that there was a substantial lack of nutrient intake on the part of the female students, more so when examining the level of calcium taken. One reason behind this could be connected to the quality of the food eaten10. As explained by Deshpande, Basil, and Basil,2 university students are notorious for not eating properly (i.e. adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables) and, as such, this could result in nutrient deficiency2.
Discussion
Taking into consideration the fact that the data from the Australian population survey was taken between 2011 to 2012, deviation based on social conditions inherent to populations from widely divergent time periods (ex: the Australian population during the 1950s as compared to the female students found in the class at the present) cannot be utilized as a means of explaining the deviation9. One way to explain the deviation can be seen in the work of Deliens, Clarys, De Bourdeaudhuij, and Deforche which examined the weight gain and differences in social classes.
Deliens et al. explains that different social classes have access to a widely divergent range of food (ex: healthy food versus junk food) and activities (ex: going to the gym versus staying at home) which can have an impact on the health of an individual1. Since food and the types of physical activity undertaken are often two of the most important factors in relation to BMI, it can be stated that the lower BMI of the female students is due to the fact that as individuals that can afford a college tuition in Australia, they are from a different economic class resulting in access to better food and activities which influenced their BMI as compared to the other individuals within the same age class in the general Australian population5.
The inherent issue when it comes to assessing the daily energy intake and its connection to health is based on the quality of the nutrients taken and the innate level of physical activity done by the individual7. As such, the results cannot be considered as being absolutely conclusive due to the lack of consideration for the type of food and level of exercise undertaken.
Conclusion
One way of interpreting the data is that the female population in the class, by virtue of being from an economically advantageous social class (i.e. those that can afford to enroll in a university), resulted in better physical activity values but lower vitamin intake due to their lack of desire to eat vitamin rich food. This manifests in a high physical activity score, lower BIA and skin fold test but shows up in the lack of nutrients taken.
Reference List
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