Application of dietary balance index in assessing diet quality of college students in medical college

Objective: To assess the dietary quality and nutritional structure by the dietary balance index(DBI) in medical college and provide the diet guidance for college students.Methods: Six hundred and forty-one students who selected by stratified cluster sampling were enrolled in the study.All of them were taken a three-day dietary survey.The DBI was used to evaluate the diet quality of the college students.Results: The survey was shown that the factors related to the dietary quality were sex,grade and nutrition education level.The DBI-low bound score,high bound score and total score of boys were higher than these of girls(P<0.05 to P<0.01),the DBI-low bound score and diet quality distance in higher grade students were significantly lower than those in the first-grade students(P<0.01).The proportion of the mode B was 43.2%,while the proportion of optimal mode A was only 18.1%.Conclusions: The dietary balance index evaluation system can reflect the diet quality objectively for college students.It is necessary to carry out targeted nutrition education to increase the intake of vegetables,fruits,milk and animal food,in order to improve the college students' dietary quality.