1 The Healthfulness of Entrées and Students ’ 2 Purchases in a University Campus Dining 3 Environment 4

The purpose of this study is to determine the availability of “more healthful” (MH) 13 versus “less healthful” (LH) entrée items in the campus dining and if students’ purchases are 14 reflective of what is offered. This is an observational study in which students’ purchases of the 15 available entrée items in the campus dining at a Midwestern university in one academic year were 16 collected and categorized as either MH or LH according to the American Heart Association 17 guidelines. Chi-square tests were used to determine the differences between the proportion of 18 purchased MH and LH versus those available. Odds ratio estimates with 95% confidence limits were 19 used to determine the associations between the demographics and MH and LH purchases. Of the 20 total entrée items available, 15.0% were MH and 85.0% were LH. In the fall, 8.0% of purchases were 21 MH and 92.0% purchases were LH as compared to 8.9% MH and 91.1% LH in the spring. Whites 22 were less likely than non-whites to purchase a MH entrée. Females were two times more likely to 23 choose MH entrées than males. The campus dining offerings and students’ purchases of entrees 24 were primarily LH. Work with campus dining providers to create profitable, yet healthful, dining 25 entrees is needed to improve the healthfulness of entrée offerings. 26