Is Field of Study or Location Associated with College Students' Snacking Patterns?
Table 1
Mean importance ratings of barriers to healthy snacking on-campus and off-campus for 513 college students.
Subscale or itema (Stem: please rate each possible barrier to eating healthy snacks according to how important it is to you personally …)
Perceived Importance on-campus
Perceived Importance off-campus
HRFb ()
Sigc
NHRFb ()
HRFb ()
Sigc
NHRFb ()
Practical concerns subscale (mean of 6 items)
2.6 (0.9)
ns
2.6 (0.9)
2.5 (0.8)
ns
2.7 (0.9)
Practical concerns individual itemsd
Too expensive
3.4 (1.5)
ns
3.4 (1.6)
3.0 (1.3)
ns
3.2 (1.4)
Not readily available
3.2 (1.5)
ns
3.2 (1.4)
3.1 (1.3)
ns
3.1 (1.3)
Take too long to prepare
2.6 (1.4)
ns
2.7 (1.4)
2.9 (1.2)
ns
3.0 (1.3)
Difficult to transport
2.3 (1.4)
ns
2.4 (1.5)
2.2 (1.3)
ns
2.4 (1.4)
My friends do not eat healthy snacks
2.0 (1.3)
ns
2.2 (1.3)
2.1 (1.3)
ns
2.3 (1.3)
Boy/Girlfriend does not eat healthy snacks
1.9 (1.4)
ns
2.1 (1.3)
2.0 (1.3)
ns
2.2 (1.4)
Internal cues subscale (mean of 3 items)
2.4 (1.1)
**
2.7 (1.0)
2.5 (1.0)
**
2.7 (1.0)
Internal cues individual items
Do not satisfy the craving I have
2.6 (1.4)
**
3.1 (1.4)
2.8 (1.4)
**
3.2 (1.3)
Either not sweet enough or salty enough
2.2 (1.2)
ns
2.4 (1.2)
2.4 (1.2)
ns
2.5 (1.2)
Do not give energy I need
2.3 (1.4)
ns
2.4 (1.4)
2.3 (1.3)
ns
2.5 (1.4)
Awareness subscale (mean of 2 items)
2.1 (1.3)
*
2.3 (1.2)
2.1 (1.2)
*
2.3 (1.1)
Awareness individual items
Do not know how to choose healthy snacks
2.1 (1.4)
ns
2.2 (1.3)
2.1 (1.3)
*
2.3 (1.3)
Do not know where to find healthy snacks
2.2 (1.4)
ns
2.5 (1.4)
2.1 (1.3)
ns
2.2 (1.2)
aEach item was rated on a 5-point scale, with 1: least important and 5: most important.
bHRF: health-related fields; NHRF: nonhealth-related fields. Data reported as “mean (standard deviation).”
cStatistical significance for HRF versus NHRF, ns: not significant (); *; **.
dItems within each subscale are ordered from highest to lowest mean score based on off-campus means for NHRM.
