The transition to higher education (HE) constitutes a prime opportunity for intervention to address  the sub-optimal dietary behaviours (low intake of fruit and vegetables (F&V), infrequent breakfast  consumption [BC]), clinically-relevant gains in body mass, and hazardous alcohol consumption  (HAC) patterns that have been reported amongst international HE student cohorts(1,2). To inform  such interventions, the current cross-sectional study aimed to explore gender differences in  habitual F&V consumption, BC, body mass index (BMI), and HAC among first-year undergraduates  at a multi-campus university in Ireland. A 42-item web-based questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to first-year undergraduate students  across the university’s six campuses in semester 1 of 2022/23 (Wave 1) and was repeated in  semester 1 of 2023/24 (Wave 2), supplemented by in-class recruitment. Participants met the  inclusion criteria if they were a full-time first-year student, and were aged ≥18 years. Participants  were asked to quantify their daily servings of F&V (serving defined as 1 piece of fruit, or 3  dessertspoons of vegetables). Habitual BC (days) were reported (weekdays: 0-5, weekend days: 0- 2) and BMI [kg/height(m)2 ] was calculated from self-reported height and body mass. The AUDIT-C scale (range 0-12) was used to identify HAC on the basis of previously-reported sex-specific threshold scores(3) (females ≥5 and males ≥6). Between-gender differences were examined using Chi-Squared Tests for Independence (categorical data) or Mann-Whitney U Tests (non-parametric continuous data). The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Overall response rate (W1/W2 combined) was 19.0%, (n=1910, 54.9% female, mean age 19.7±4.0).  Median number of F&V servings per day was 4.0 (IQR ± 3.0), with 35.7% reporting ≥5 servings. A  significantly higher proportion of females reported consuming ≥5 daily servings of F&V, compared  to males (38.6% vs. 32.2%, p=0.007). In total, 36.4% reported consuming breakfast on all weekdays,  whilst 54.4% reported consuming breakfast on both weekend days. Males reported significantly  more frequent BC than females on all weekdays (43.7% vs. 35.2%) and weekend days (64.4% vs.  53.4%, p<0.01). In terms of BMI, 7.8% of students were classified with underweight (males: 6.6%,  females: 8.8%), 61.0% with normal weight (males: 60.7%, females: 61.4%), 22.1% with overweight  (males: 24.5%, females: 20.1%) and 9.1% with obesity (males: 8.3%, females 9.8%). The majority  (89.9%) of students reported consuming alcohol, and 65.9% exceeded sex-specific HAC thresholds  (males: 70.3% vs. females: 62.5%, p<0.01). The current study has served to highlight sub-optimal dietary behaviours amongst a cohort of firstyear undergraduate students in Ireland. A concerning prevalence of overweight and obesity was  also observed, and HAC was prevalent amongst 65.9%. Males appeared to exhibit less favourable  behavioural patterns than females in terms of F&V intake and HAC. These findings will inform  targeted ‘life-course’ interventions aimed at improving dietary and health related behaviours within  the transformative setting of higher education.

OC218 - Gender differences in dietary behaviours, body mass index, and alcohol consumption patterns amongst first-year undergraduate students: preliminary findings from a multi-campus university in Ireland.

Unique to the new Congress (previously the Summer Conference) is that you will have greater opportunity to engage with more nutrition science than ever before. In 2024 the core programme will be delivered by the Irish Section of The Nutrition Society, supported by the Science Committee. The theme of these symposia will be ‘new data – focused approaches and challenges’. Outside of the core programme you will have the chance to hear the latest research from the Society’s partner organisations, universities, the private sector and more, on a diverse range of research.