Assessing food availability and healthier options in an urban Chinese university: a case study using the Chinese Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey for Stores (C-NEMS-S)
Keywords
Food environmentUniversity
Food availability
Healthier options
Price
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Full record
Show full item recordAbstract
Abstract Young adults (18–24 years) in universities are frequently exposed to an environment that promotes unhealthy eating behaviors. Using a validated tool, the Chinese Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey for Stores (C-NEMS-S), we assess the food availability and healthier options in a large, urban Chinese university. We employed C-NEMS-S for scoring criteria and weighting. A total of 52 on-campus canteen outlets were audited in an urban university located in Shijiazhuang City, China. General food outlets (n 43) and self-served food outlets (n 7) were further categorized into eight subtypes. Beverage outlets (n 2) were discussed separately from food outlets. C-NEMS-S scores were significantly different across food outlet types (P = 0.0024), especially between noodle and rice outlets (P = 0.0415). Food availability scores for starchy tubers (P < 0.001), dry beans (P < 0.001), vegetables (P = 0.0225), and fruits (P < 0.001) were significantly different across food outlet subtypes. Healthier options were scarce and only appeared in “grains” (n 2) and “meat and poultry” (n 2) categories. Further research on improving the accustomed audit tool and assessing university student diet quality is warranted.Date
2024-01-01Type
ArticleIdentifier
oai:doaj.org/article:02bf77d370d44b0eafec942b86dde24910.1186/s12889-023-17415-8
1471-2458
https://doaj.org/article/02bf77d370d44b0eafec942b86dde249