Dietary intake and nutritional anthropometry of the non-academic employees of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJP), Sri Lanka

Abstract

Studies on nutritional status of state employees are limited and therefore the present study was conducted to determine the nutritional status of aselected sample of employees attached to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJP), who directly involve in facilitating the academic activities of the University. This is a cross-sectional study carried out by interviewing 130 non-academic members of USJP staff for collecting information on their socio-demographic factors, physical activity levels and food habits. Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist to Hip ratio (WHR) were calculated according to the WHO anthropometric standards while seven-day food consumption was recorded to assess the food and energy intake in the participants. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the sample was32.3% and 10.8% respectively while 53.8% and 63.9% of the participants had WC (waist circumference) and WHR. Among the participants, 79.2% of members had a sedentary lifestyle spending most of their time sitting without exercises at work and at home. Moreover, they showed a significant relationship with overweight and obesity (r=0.4, p