Nhu cầu và sở thích về can thiệp hỗ trợ dinh dưỡng và hoạt động thể lực ở sinh viên Việt Nam

Abstract

Undergraduate students often exhibit unbalanced dietary habits and lead sedentary lifestyles due to academic pressures, daily routines, and limited time. In 2023, a cross-sectional survey of 2,290 students from Vietnam’s Northern, Central, and Southern regions assessed their needs for and preferred channels of nutrition and physical activity support. Overall, 79% of respondents expressed a desire for assistance: 48.7% sought both nutrition and exercise guidance, 18.9% requested nutrition support only, and 11.4% physical activity support only. Female students and those from the Central and Southern regions demonstrated significantly higher demand than their peers (p < 0.001). Regarding delivery methods, the majority preferred free services (64.4%) and chose smartphone applications as their first option (62.8%), followed by social media (38.8%) and support through organizations or clubs (20.8%); all other channels together accounted for just 1%. There were statistically significant differences in support needs and channel preferences by gender, region, and field of study (p < 0.05), but no differences by type of residence (p > 0.05). These findings lay the groundwork for designing flexible, multi-channel digital interventions that integrate nutrition and physical activity and are tailored to Vietnamese university students.