Vol. 12, Issue 5 (2023)

Methods: A total of 400 hostel boarders were selected randomly from hostels of Jorhat city. A validated questionnaire was used to collect information on the socio-demographic profile, food habit, breakfast consumption and frequency of skipping. Anthropometric indices such as height and weight were measured.

Results: The study comprised of 48.50% male and 51.50% female with mean age of 21.41 years. Majority (92.75%) of the population were non-vegetarian and consumed three meals a day (66.25%). Most (46.50%) of the hostel boarder consumed cereal-based products in their breakfast on a daily basis. The study also revealed that 48.25% of the population skips breakfast of which 12.50% skips breakfast daily, 46.00% skips 1-2 times/week, 21.25% skips 3 times/week and 19.50% of the population skips breakfast more than 3 times/ week. The data on nutritional status revealed that 64.50% population had normal weight while 20.00 and 15.50% were underweight and overweight respectively. Hence the study calls for the need to aware the hostel boarders regarding the significance of breakfast consumption in order to improve their nutritional status.