A Study of Energy Intake and Body Fat Percent of College Students in Seoul

To investigate the correlation between college women's energy intake and body fat percentage, this study was undertaken with 116 college women aged 19-24 years. The subjects were 20.9 years old on the average, and mean height and weight was 161.3 cm, 51.2 kg. Blood pressures were 112.4 mm Hg(systolic pressure), 70.2 mmHg(diastolic pressure). The number of pulse was 75.5 count/min. The energy intake and percent body fat were examined. The average intake of energy was 7652kcal/day(82.3% of RDA), which was lower than the recommended amount. It was similar to the level of energy intake of Korean women. BMI was 19.7 and body fat percent was 24.4%, so they appeared plump. According to BMI, 43.1% of subjects was grouped into normal, 56.9% was thin ; there was no difference between groups in age and stature. Also, normal group(27.1%) shoed significantly higher body fat percent(27.1%) than thin group(22.3%). But, body fat percent of thin group according to BMI was shown normal. Therefore, it may be thought that BMI is unsuitable indicator in this study. As a result of analyzing the correlation between body-measuring value and food intake, body fat percent against body weight and BMI was significant at the level p<0.001, but thee was no significant correlation with food intake. Therefore, it is desirable to recommend a healthful dietary lifestyle and activities for young women who want to reduce body weight due to excessive concerns regarding their outward figure.