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Effect of Obesity Prevention Education on Healthy Dietary Practices among University Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Obesity is an increasing public health concern among young adults and is associated with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and other chronic health conditions. University students may be particularly vulnerable to unhealthy dietary practices because of changing lifestyles, academic demands, limited income, increased independence in food choices, frequent consumption of fast foods, irregular meal patterns, and easy access to energy-dense foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. Obesity prevention education provides students with information about the causes and health consequences of obesity, healthy food choices, balanced diets, portion control, meal planning, food labels, adequate fruit and vegetable consumption, and the importance of limiting foods high in added sugars, unhealthy fats, and excess calories. Healthy dietary practices refer to behaviours such as consuming balanced meals, eating adequate fruits and vegetables, controlling portion sizes, limiting sugar-sweetened beverages and highly processed foods, maintaining regular meal patterns, and making informed food choices. Effective obesity prevention education may improve students' nutritional knowledge and encourage the adoption of healthier dietary behaviours. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of obesity prevention education on healthy dietary practices among university students in Nigeria. The study is anchored on the Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Knowledge-Attitude-Practice framework. The Health Belief Model explains preventive health behaviour through perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action, providing a basis for understanding university students' decisions to adopt healthy dietary practices. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes the interaction between knowledge, self-efficacy, social influences, behavioural capabilities, and environmental conditions in shaping dietary behaviour. The Knowledge-Attitude-Practice framework provides a basis for examining how improved nutritional knowledge and attitudes resulting from obesity prevention education may influence healthy dietary practices. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how obesity prevention education may influence dietary behaviour among university students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental research design. Primary data will be collected from undergraduate students in selected universities in Nigeria using a structured self-administered questionnaire and, where feasible, a dietary assessment instrument. A multistage sampling technique will be employed to select states, universities, faculties or departments, academic levels, and eligible students. Where feasible, selected student groups will be assigned to intervention and comparison groups. Students in the intervention group will receive structured obesity prevention education covering obesity risk factors, healthy dietary choices, balanced meals, portion control, meal planning, food labels, adequate fruit and vegetable consumption, reduction of sugar-sweetened beverages and highly processed foods, healthy food preparation methods, and the relationship between dietary behaviour and obesity prevention. Healthy dietary practices will be assessed using indicators such as frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption, dietary diversity, portion control, meal regularity, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, consumption of highly processed and energy-dense foods, and other appropriate measures of healthy eating. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' sociodemographic characteristics, nutritional knowledge, exposure to education, and dietary practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired-sample tests, independent-sample tests, and multiple regression analysis, will be used to determine the effect of obesity prevention education on healthy dietary practices. Appropriate diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability of the research instrument, model assumptions, goodness of fit, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that obesity prevention education has a significant positive effect on healthy dietary practices among university students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured obesity prevention education are expected to demonstrate improved knowledge of healthy nutrition and greater adoption of appropriate dietary behaviours. Education may encourage increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, improved portion control, more regular meal patterns, reduced consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and highly processed foods, and greater attention to balanced meal choices. However, education alone may not guarantee sustained dietary changes because students may continue to face barriers such as food prices, limited income, availability of healthy foods on and around university campuses, peer influence, academic pressures, convenience of fast foods, and limited cooking facilities. Consequently, obesity prevention education is expected to be most effective when supported by healthy campus food environments, affordable nutritious food options, nutrition-friendly university policies, and broader health-promotion initiatives. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on obesity prevention, nutrition education, dietary behaviour, adolescent and young adult health, non-communicable disease prevention, and public health in Nigeria by providing empirical evidence on the effect of obesity prevention education on healthy dietary practices among university students. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission, university administrations, student health services, nutritionists, public health practitioners, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for promoting healthy eating among university students. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening campus-based nutrition education, improving the availability of affordable healthy foods, regulating unhealthy food environments within universities, integrating obesity prevention into student health programmes, and promoting sustainable healthy dietary practices among university students across Nigeria.

Keywords: Obesity prevention education, healthy dietary practices, university students, obesity prevention, nutrition education, healthy eating, dietary behaviour, young adults, non-communicable diseases, health promotion, public health, Nigeria.