Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional study

Background: Intention to lose weight (ILW) is common among university students and may be influenced by sociodemographic, nutritional, behavioral, and anthropometric factors. However, evidence integrating these factors in university populations remains limited. Objective: To analyze sociodemographic...

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Autor principal: Jacksaint Saintila
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Lenguaje:inglés
Publicado: 2026
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author Jacksaint Saintila
author_browse Jacksaint Saintila
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author_sort Jacksaint Saintila
collection Producción científica
description Background: Intention to lose weight (ILW) is common among university students and may be influenced by sociodemographic, nutritional, behavioral, and anthropometric factors. However, evidence integrating these factors in university populations remains limited. Objective: To analyze sociodemographic, lifestyle, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge (NK), sleep quality, and body mass index (BMI) factors associated with ILW among university students. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 301 university students. Sociodemographic variables, sleep quality, physical activity, vegetarian status, NK, and BMI were assessed. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to estimate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR/aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: The prevalence of ILW during the previous 12 months was 56.8% (n = 171; 95% CI: 51.1-62.4). Female sex (aPR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.03-1.61; p = 0.028), vegetarian status (aPR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.08-1.52; p = 0.004), poor sleep quality according to the PSQI (aPR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.13-1.32; p < 0.001), and excess weight (aPR = 1.94; 95% CI: 1.55-2.42; p < 0.001) were associated with a higher prevalence of ILW. Compared with high NK, low NK (aPR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.44-0.87; p = 0.006) and medium NK (aPR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.63-0.99; p = 0.041) were associated with a lower prevalence of ILW. Conclusion: ILW was frequent among university students and was independently associated with female sex, vegetarian status, higher NK, poor sleep quality, and excess weight. These findings may inform university-based strategies for nutrition education, sleep health, and supervised weight-management counseling.
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spelling openalex:W7161681109Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional studyJacksaint Saintilaweight loss intentionsuniversity studentsfemale sexvegetarian dietnutrition knowledgesleep qualityoverweightbody mass indexphysical activitynutrition educationweight managementHealth and Lifestyle StudiesNutrition, Health and Food BehaviorObesity, Physical Activity, DietBackground: Intention to lose weight (ILW) is common among university students and may be influenced by sociodemographic, nutritional, behavioral, and anthropometric factors. However, evidence integrating these factors in university populations remains limited. Objective: To analyze sociodemographic, lifestyle, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge (NK), sleep quality, and body mass index (BMI) factors associated with ILW among university students. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 301 university students. Sociodemographic variables, sleep quality, physical activity, vegetarian status, NK, and BMI were assessed. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to estimate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR/aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: The prevalence of ILW during the previous 12 months was 56.8% (n = 171; 95% CI: 51.1-62.4). Female sex (aPR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.03-1.61; p = 0.028), vegetarian status (aPR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.08-1.52; p = 0.004), poor sleep quality according to the PSQI (aPR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.13-1.32; p < 0.001), and excess weight (aPR = 1.94; 95% CI: 1.55-2.42; p < 0.001) were associated with a higher prevalence of ILW. Compared with high NK, low NK (aPR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.44-0.87; p = 0.006) and medium NK (aPR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.63-0.99; p = 0.041) were associated with a lower prevalence of ILW. Conclusion: ILW was frequent among university students and was independently associated with female sex, vegetarian status, higher NK, poor sleep quality, and excess weight. These findings may inform university-based strategies for nutrition education, sleep health, and supervised weight-management counseling.Articlehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.obpill.2026.100274W7161681109enObesity Pillars2667-36812026-05-19
spellingShingle weight loss intentions
university students
female sex
vegetarian diet
nutrition knowledge
sleep quality
overweight
body mass index
physical activity
nutrition education
weight management
Health and Lifestyle Studies
Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
Jacksaint Saintila
Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional study
title Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional study
title_full Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional study
title_short Female sex, vegetarian status, nutritional knowledge, sleep quality, and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students: A cross-sectional study
title_sort female sex vegetarian status nutritional knowledge sleep quality and excess weight are associated with intention to lose weight among university students a cross sectional study
topic weight loss intentions
university students
female sex
vegetarian diet
nutrition knowledge
sleep quality
overweight
body mass index
physical activity
nutrition education
weight management
Health and Lifestyle Studies
Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
topic_facet weight loss intentions
university students
female sex
vegetarian diet
nutrition knowledge
sleep quality
overweight
body mass index
physical activity
nutrition education
weight management
Health and Lifestyle Studies
Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
url https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obpill.2026.100274
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