Body mass and fatness of Japanese college women and relationship to place of residence

Aim: The objectives of the present study are to examine prevalence of overweight, underweight, and overfat and underfat in Japanese college women and to determine if and how living arrangements during college were related. Methods: During 1997–2004, 1757 female college students (18–23 years) in an urban city in Japan were measured for height, weight and body fatness. They completed a demographic questionnaire identifying place of residence. Results: Nearly three times as many women were underweight as were overweight from 1997 to 2004, but 33.8% were overfat and only 1.8% underfat. The mean percentage body fat (25.6 ± 5.2%) was similar to that of other similarly aged Japanese college women, but exceeded that of Japanese teenagers and young adults in several other studies. Despite no difference in BMI by place of residence, those students who lived alone in an apartment or lived in a dormitory had significantly higher percentage of body fatness (n = 493, 26.1 ± 5.6% vs. n = 577, 25.7 ± 5.1%, respectively) compared with those living with their family (n = 524, 24.8 ± 4.7%). Conclusions: The high prevalence of underweight in college women concurrent with increasing body fatness might be cause for concern. Women who lived alone had the highest adiposity.