[Factors Affecting Nutrient Intake of Students after High School Graduation: Focusing on Changes in Diet and the Period of Solitary Living].

Objectives: In this study, we aim to establish supportive measures for sustaining a healthy diet in students and young adults after graduating from high school by examining possible factors leading to changes in their daily nutrient consumption.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among university, college, and vocational school students throughout the main island of Japan (total numbers of respondents with valid responses, 1,256) to evaluate their diets using a five-point scale. Two groups were selected based on the status of daily nutrient consumption. One group comprised 258 students who had maintained high nutrition scores (scored ≥ 4 points in all six primary food groups) since their third year in high school (maintained high-score group) and the other group comprised 250 students whose nutrition scores declined after high school (decreased-score group: scored high in the third year of high school but the scores decreased after admission to universities, colleges, and other institutes). By comparing these two groups, we investigated the possible factors affecting the decrease in nutrition scores.

Results: As the number of students in "the period of solitary living" and with the behavior of "skipping breakfast" increased, the proportion of students in the decreased-score group was found to increase. The eating behaviors that significantly differed between the students in the third year and those after graduating from high school were "skipping breakfast", "eating out", and "instant food intake" in the decreased-score group in both genders.

Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that we must promote measures that address the factors affecting nutrition intake after high school graduation.