AUTHOR=Walker Anita Nyarkoa , Weeto Makhala Mary , Priddy Christiana Babymay , Yakubu Salimata , Zaitoun Margaret , Chen Qianfeng , Li Bohan , Feng Yucong , Zhong Yuxia , Zhang Yuandie , Wei Tao , Bafei Solim Essomandan Clémence , Feng Qing 

TITLE=Healthy eating habits and a prudent dietary pattern improve Nanjing international students’ health-related quality of life

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1211218

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1211218

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Purpose: Low-quality dietary practices, like fast food consumption and skipping meals, deteriorate the quality of life. However, the available studies on diet and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) used matrices not specific to nutrition. Also, how diet affects the HRQOL of international students in China is unknown. Therefore, using a cross-sectional study, we examined the effect of dietary patterns and habits on the HRQOL of international students in Nanjing, China.
Method: the researchers collected dietary data using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) from February to March 2022. Then, the Food Benefit Assessment (FBA) was used to access HRQOL. Finally, we explored the effect of eating habits and dietary patterns on HRQOL with multilinear regression. 
Results: We obtained 454 responses, mostly males (56.4%) and 26 years and above (75.6%). The quality of life according to the food consumed was about average for all the constructs except for Aesthetic and disease prevention, as about 65.8% skipped meals, particularly breakfast (47.8%). Furthermore, we identified three dietary patterns; prudent, western, and animal protein patterns. Consequently, by skipping breakfast, vitality (β =-2.362, p=0.04), wellbeing (β =-3.592, p=0.007), digestive comfort (β =-4.734, p=0.008), and disease prevention (β =-5.071, p=0.031) all reduced. However, consuming at least three meals daily enhanced vitality (β =2.254, p=0.003) and disease prevention (β =4.441, p=0.019). Furthermore, atheistic (β =4.456, p=0.05), physical appearance (β =5.927, p=0.003), and vitality (β =3.323, p=0.009) were also significantly increased by healthy dietary patterns. However, a more westernized diet led to frequent snacking (β =-4.631, p=0.032), a decline in well-being (β =-5.370, p0.001), and discomfort with digestion (β =-5.101, p=0.01). Lastly, increased frequency of snacking (β =-6.036, p=0.012), a decrease in well-being (β =-4.494, p=0.004), digestive comfort (β =-9.940, p<0.001), physical appearance (β =-4.926, p=0.027), and disease prevention (β =-5.835, p=0.043) were all associated with an increase in animal protein patterns. 
Conclusion: our research indicates that healthy eating habits and patterns positively impact international students' HRQOL. Therefore, appropriate authorities should admonish students to consume healthy foods regularly to improve their HRQOL.