Purpose: Each year many young people leave their home country to attend University abroad. Their major destination is the United States but countries such as Canada and Australia are increasing in popularity. Education of international students in Australian universities is now the number three export industry and important to the national economy. Therefore, it is essential that due attention is provided to meet the health and wellbeing needs of these students. It is clearly documented that poor dietary habits, frequent meals from take-away and fast-food restaurants, excessive alcohol consumption and weight gain occur in University student populations. However, less is known about the impacts for students coming from overseas to study. This study aimed to identify and synthesize the existing body of literature to determine how international students’ diets change when they begin tertiary study in a foreign country. ​

Methods: In order to inform future programs and policy, a scoping review was conducted following the methods of Arksey and O’Malley. The population of interest encompassed international students studyingto gain post-secondary qualifications in any country that was not their permanent home. Important determinants of the dietary changes assessed were considered and included the social and economic drivers of changes in their diets. We also aimed to identify problems of food literacy; food accessibility; food preparation facilities; and cooking skills. The impact of dietary changes on weight, diet quality, academic, and psychological outcomes were evaluated. Databases searched included MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, Global Health and PsycINFO and available dissertations and theses but only those in the English language could be considered. Both quantitative and qualitative research was included.

Results: The data collated includes country of study and home country, nationality and age of participants, length of stay in the host country, changes in dietary behaviours, changes in food patterns, determinants of dietary intake and barriers to eating healthily. After mapping the data, the findings of the review will be used to inform a national survey of foreign students in Australian tertiary education facilities.

Conclusions: The ultimate aim is to optimize services (policy and practices) for international students in Australia.

Purpose: University food environments typically offer an abundance of unhealthy food choices, including through vending machines. Two studies are presented here, with the aims being to; determine the nutritional quality of items available in vending machines at an Australian university (study 1), and evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition interventions in vending machines in the university setting (study 2).  

Methods: Study 1 included an audit of all vending machines at the three major campuses of the University of Newcastle, Australia, completed in 2019. The number of slots and name, weight/volume and cost of food/drink items were recorded. The nutritional quality of items was assessed using the Health Star Rating (HSR) system (0.5-5 stars, least-most healthy). The proportion of healthy (HSR ≥3.5) and unhealthy items and their mean cost was calculated. Study 2 included a systematic review. Ten databases were searched for experimental studies published up to July 2019, which evaluated nutrition interventions that aimed to encourage the purchase or consumption of healthy foods/drinks in vending machines in the university setting.  

Results: Study 1; 61 vending machines were audited, containing 2158 slots of which 1787 contained unhealthy food/drinks (83%). The mean (SD) cost of healthy items was $3.15 (1.47) and unhealthy items $3.57 (0.59). Study 2; the search identified 398 articles, and 11 studies were included. Studies were RCTs (n=5), pre-post test studies (n=5), or non-randomised controlled trial (n=1), and predominantly from the USA (n=8). Six interventions (55%) reported positive change in outcomes, including increased number/proportion of sales or revenue from healthy items (n=4), improved adherence to guidelines for the ratio of healthy/unhealthy products (n=1), and improved consumer perception of items available (n=1). Effective interventions were those which involved promoting, increasing availability and/or optimising positioning of healthy items within vending machines.

Conclusions: Strategies to improve the nutritional quality of food and drinks in vending machines are warranted. Studies demonstrate that this can be achieved by making healthy options more available and increasing their promotion. 

Purpose: Vegetable intake is worst among young adults aged 18-34, and several different factors dissuade University students from eating vegetables - a lack of time to shop and to cook, a lack of money, limited experience, limited information and low confidence in cooking vegetables. This study involves identifying whether improvements in attitudes and motivation resulting from recipes and instructional cooking video viewing translate to improvements in vegetable purchase in young adults.

Methods: The method involves reducing barriers for cooking vegetables in young adults by: (1) using a food bundling service to make it easier, cheaper, and more convenient for students to purchase vegetables on campus; (2) providing students with accessible information about how to cook shown via short recipes and instructional cooking videos delivered through the bundling service website and social media platforms. Questions exploring enablers of home cooking and feedback on the digital content were collected through a survey, and three focus group discussions. Feedback on the digital content will be used to modify the recipes and videos. This co-designed digital content will be included as educational components of a 20-weeks study for improving vegetable intake in a more diverse sample of young adults using a social media marketing campaign and a food bundling service.

Results: Preliminary testing of recipes and cooking videos suggested that they were an effective medium for reducing the perception of barriers to cooking with vegetables among young adults. Researchers are currently using a co-design approach to re-design the recipes and videos based on the focus group data analysis. The researchers will then run a digital campaign via Facebook and Instagram pages, track social media engagement, and monitor the sales of the vegetable boxes.

Conclusions: ​This intervention is using the COM-B behaviour change framework, with recipes, cooking videos and a food bundling service to improve capability by improving accessibility, building skills, increasing motivation and thereby increasing vegetable purchase.