ASSESSING EATING PATTERNS AND ITS HEALTH IMPLICATIONS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS IN MADONNA UNIVERSITY ELELE, RIVERS STATE

ABSTRACT Good nutrition pattern reflects a healthy and nutritionally balanced diet to help promote health and prevent chronic diseases for current and future generations. Subjects likenutrition knowledge and healthy eating habits are crucially important to nursing students’ health and outcome as a result of the nature of their training and clinical exposure.The study sought to assess the eating patterns and its health implications among undergraduate nursing students in Madonna University Elele, Rivers State. The target population for this study was comprised of nursing students in their third to fifth year of study in Madonna University in Rivers State, and a sample size of 240 nursing students was used for the analysis. The researcher made use of a cross-sectional descriptive design and a self-designed questionnairefor data collection. The data was descriptively summarized with the use of frequency, percentages and tables.On the eating pattern of students, an aggregate of the majority agreed that they consciously watch their feeding pattern and nutritional status (2.57± 1.98); and majority eat healthy to build their body, boost their immune system and maintain health(2.93± 1.86). On the health implications of eating patterns, aggregate findings showed that it can lead to poor nutrition (2.88± 1.64); and can lead to malnourishment which can cause obesity, diabetes (2.94± 1.91). On aggregate, findings revealed that majority of the respondents agreed that the factors include lack of proper knowledge on balanced nutrition (3.38± 1.84), academic stress (3.20± 1.78), financial constrain (3.51± 1.91), peer pressure (3.30± 1.97), health ailments (3.51± 1.72), improper perception of body image of the student nurses (3.18± 1.81).Based on the findings, it was recommended that education on healthy lifestyle with a focus on balance nutrition should be provided by the nursing educators and health stakeholders to help students develop healthy eating habits.