Gender Difference in Food Choice and Eating Practice and Their Association with Health among Students of Kathmandu, Nepal

Table 4

Association between food choice and eating practice with sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and behavioural factors of the respondents.

Variables	Food choice		Chi-square value (χ^2)	value	Eating practice		Chi-square value (χ^2)	value
	Poor food choice n (%)	Good food choice n (%)			Poor practice n (%)	Good practice n (%)
Age (in years)
20 and below	112 (48.9)	117 (51.1)	3.774	0.052	109 (47.6)	120 (52.4)	1.167	0.280
21 and above	92 (59)	64 (41)			83 (53.2)	73 (46.8)
Gender
Male	121 (63.4)	70 (36.6)	16.343	≤0.001	98 (51.3)	93 (48.7)	0.314	0.575
Female	83 (42.8)	111 (57.2)			94 (48.5)	100 (51.5)
Religion
Hindu	180 (51.3)	171 (48.7)	4.638	0.031	175 (49.9)	176 (50.1)	0.000	0.987
Non-Hindu	24 (70.6)	10 (29.4)			17 (50)	17 (50)
Ethnicity
Brahmin/Chhetri	137 (52.9)	122 (47.1)	0.003	0.959	129 (49.8)	130 (50.2)	0.001	0.972
Others	67 (53.2)	59 (46.8)			63 (50)	63 (50)
Current living status
Not living with family	71 (62.3)	43 (37.7)	5.615	0.018	71 (62.3)	43 (37.7)	9.978	≤0.001
Living with family	133 (49.1)	138 (50.9)			121 (44.6)	150 (55.4)
Family income
Below 50,000	98 (57.3)	73 (42.7)	2.308	0.129	89 (52)	82 (48)	0.583	0.445
50,000 and above	106 (49.5)	108 (50.5)			103 (48.1)	111 (51.9)
Body Mass Index
Underweight	25 (49)	26 (51)	1.813	0.404	26 (51)	25 (49)	0.749	0.688
Normal	168 (54.5)	140 (45.5)			151 (49)	157 (51)
Overweight	11 (42.3)	15 (57.7)			15 (57.7)	11 (42.3)
Sickness frequency
Often	106 (50.2)	105 (49.8)	1.417	0.234	106 (50.2)	105 (49.8)	0.025	0.874
Less often	98 (56.3)	76 (43.7)			86 (49.4)	88 (50.6)
Food related health problem within 3 months
No	100 (51.5)	94 (48.5)	0.326	0.568	101 (52.1)	93 (47.9)	0.751	0.386
Yes	104 (54.5)	87 (45.5)			91 (47.6)	100 (52.4)
Other health problems
No	76 (55.5)	61 (44.5)	0.528	0.467	66 (48.2)	71 (51.8)	0.244	0.621
Yes	128 (51.6)	120 (48.4)			126 (50.8)	122 (49.2)
Smoke
No	159 (49.4)	163 (50.6)	10.284	≤0.001	152 (47.2)	170 (52.8)	5.591	0.018
Yes	45 (71.4)	18 (28.6)			40 (63.5)	23 (36.5)
Alcohol
No	110 (47.8)	120 (52.2)	6.108	0.013	109 (47.4)	121 (52.6)	1.404	0.236
Yes	94 (60.6)	61 (39.4)			83 (53.5)	72 (46.5)
Food items avoided
No	117 (53.2)	103 (46.8)	0.008	0.930	120 (54.5)	100 (45.5)	4.488	0.034
Yes	87 (52.7)	78 (47.3)			72 (43.6)	93 (56.4)
Additional food intake
No	101 (56.1)	79 (43.9)	1.324	0.250	87 (48.3)	93 (51.7)	0.319	0.572
Yes	103 (50.2)	102 (49.8)			105 (51.2)	100 (48.8)
Fasting
No	131 (54.4)	110 (45.6)	0.485	0.486	111 (46.1)	130 (53.9)	3.745	0.053
Yes	73 (50.7)	71 (49.3)			81 (56.3)	63 (43.8)

Statistically significant association.