Introduction
Studies have shown that students who command healthier lifestyles (e.g. having a balanced diet and engaging in regular physical activities) tend to outperform students who are malnourished and sedentary. The objective of this paper is to determine the nutrition and health levels of students in a preselected university in terms of various anthropometric measurements.
The rationale behind the use of anthropometric measurements is the fact that they have served as some of the strongest indicators of health. The anthropometric measurements obtained in the study on a per student basis were height, weight, left demi span, right demi span, waist circumference, hip circumference, % body fat based on skinfolds, % body fat based on bioelectrical impedance analysis, and lastly but most importantly, the body mass index.
Each of these anthropometric measurements provides a clue on whether the general population that was examined for this nutrition-focused study was healthy or otherwise. For example, a larger than usual waist and hip circumference has been associated with abdominal obesity.
Methods and Materials
A quantitative descriptive research design was used in this paper. Its overall objective was to describe the nutrition situation in the target university.
There were numerous independent variables in the study and they were: height, weight, demi span (left and right), waist circumference, hip circumference, % of body fat from skinfolds and from BIA, and the Body Mass Index.
The dependent variable would be the nutrition levels in the target university. The operating hypothesis suggests that if the selected anthropometric measurements that the students from the target university are almost congruent (if not exactly) to the current baselines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, then that means the nutrition levels of the students in the target university are at par with the internationally-accepted standards.
The participants were students aged 19 to 22 years old.
They were randomly selected.
A total of 54 participants were recruited, 44 of whom were female, and the remaining 10 were males.
Results
The results of the anthropometric measurements are summarized in the table below. The baseline values are obtained primarily from the CDC and other credible sources
Obesity has been one of the leading causes of major medical diseases and illnesses not just in developed countries like the United States but also in the developing world. It continues to be a threat not just to university-age individuals but also to those who are employed in the workforce.
Consumption is often correlated with nutrition; that is, people tend to misclassify the relationship that exists between food consumption and proper nutrition. The result of this disconnect is obesity. In fact, a significant portion of nutrition-related problems are manifested by obesity as a clinical sign and symptom. This study, on the other hand, focuses on obesity-related anthropometric measurements to meet its objectives.
Based on the results, it can be concluded that the students interviewed and examined for this nutrition-centered study are healthier than the average American in terms of the following variables: percentage of body fat from skin folds and from BIA, Body Mass Index, and Waist and Hip Circumference.
This key finding applies to both the male and female populations. It is worth noting that the average female and male participant from the university was lighter (i.e. pertaining to weight) than the average American based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s values.
BMI Legend (also based on CDC)
Discussions and Conclusions
It is important to note that most, if not all, anthropometric measurements involved in this study were related to obesity. In order to understand the relationship between various variables, a brief discussion of each anthropometric measurement and their purpose and significance in the study would have to be included. Height, weight, and demi span is the most basic of the anthropometric measurements because they can be obtained using traditional measurement tools. What makes them an important variable is that they (especially height and weight) are used in measuring body fat percentage and body max index, both of which are more reliable indicators of obesity and therefore nutrition quality and levels.
Demi span is the least important variable because it is only used as a substitute for the traditional height measurement method (using scales and measuring sticks) in cases wherein the subjects may not be able to stand. Waist and hip circumference are pretty much basic too in that they both can be measured directly. Studies have shown that a larger than usual waist and hip measurements are correlated with obesity which in turn is correlated to poor nutritional levels.
The most complex variables in this study would be the body fat percentage (using the two mechanisms) and the body mass index. The body fat % based on bioelectrical impedance analyses is obtained by measuring the person’s height, weight and age among other physical characteristics. The patient’s body’s bio-electrical impedance was then measured. The purpose of this procedure was to determine how easily electricity passes through the person’s body.
A higher level of electrical impedance is associated with patients who have higher than normal body fat percentages because electrical currents travel slower through fat. The body fat % based on skinfold, on the other hand focuses on the use of body fat measuring calipers to determine body composition. The BMI is the most commonly used indicator among the included variables. It uses the formula weight in kilograms over height in meters. The results of the calculation are then interpreted by a legend that determines whether the value fall within certain ranges (i.e. underweight, normal, overweight, obese, and extremely obese).
Anthropometry is just one of the many possible ways how a researcher can use a comparative method of studying health and nutrition levels among a target population (using the CDC findings as a baseline). It can easily be replaced by other methods depending on the goal of the researchers and what they are actually trying to measure. If, for example, they are going to measure quality of life in relation to health and nutrition, anthropometry would be useless and so they would have to use another method.
Conclusions
Now that the implications of each of the anthropometric measurements have already been exposed, by recalling the results and findings, it can now be concluded that the average university participant in recruited in this study is healthier (from a nutrition-focused statistical observation) than the average American based on a mixture of baseline data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other credible sources.
This may, however, be caused by the fact that university-age students are composed of people in their late teens and early twenties. This means that they are still in their developing age and may be considered physically immature to be compared to a set of participants (from CDC and other credible sources) that one can presume to be already in a physically mature age (probably early thirties).
If one is going to base on what the numbers suggest, however, one would indeed see that the university participants appear to be healthier than the general population.
References
Biss, M. (2016). How to Measure your Body Fat. Body Building.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Measured Average Height, Weight, and Wasit Circumference for Adults Ages 20 Years and Over. CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/body-measurements.htm.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). What is BMI. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/.
McCoy, W. (2014). What is a Good Body Fat Percentage. Livestrong.
Molarius, A., Seidell, J., Sans, S., Tuomilehto, J., & Kuulasmaa, K. (n.d.). Wasit and Hip Circumferences, and Waist-Hip Ratio in 19 Populations of the WHO Monica Project. International Journal of Obesity Metabolic Disorders, 116-125.
