Abstract
We examined the association between the number of food items bought in convenience stores and nutrient and food-group intakes in 1, 813 18-year-old first-year female college students taking 22 dietetic courses. The number of food items bought and the dietary habits during a one-month period were assessed with a short questionnaire and a self-administered diet history questionnaire, respectively. Intakes of energy (Spearman rank correlation coefficient, r=0.25, p<0.001) and carotene (r=0.07, p<0.01) were positively and negatively correlated, respectively, with the number of food items. Crude fat intake increased along with the number of food items (r=0.23, p<0.001), but the energy-adjusted value did not correlate significantly with the number of food items. The energy-adjusted intakes of carotene, protein, calcium, dietary fiber, iron, potassium, vitamin C, cholesterol, and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids showed a negative correlation (r=-0.20--0.09, p<0.001). A positive and negative correlation of confectionery items and green-yellow vegetables, respectively, was strengthened by energy adjustment (r=0.16 and-0.19 respectively, p<0.001). The number of food items was also significantly correlated with residential region, local population size, and living conditions within the students' families (p<0.05). However, adjustment for these factors did not materially alter the results.
