READING UNIVERSITY students show that not all students live on junk food alone through their studying years. A study completed in October 2005 by 67 pupils taking food and nutrition courses at the University of Reading, has shown that students appear to have a more balanced diet than given credit for. The issued food frequency questionnaire focused on food eaten over a one week period during term time to gain information on the nutrient intakes of Reading University students. The age, weight, smoking status, if the participants were vegetarian or dieting, were not taken into consideration in the study instead it is a broad outline of nutrient intakes only. There is clear variety in the food consumed by the individual students but mean values have been taken to give a rounded representation. In 1991 the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food (COMA) set guidelines of the approximate amount of nutrients and energy needed by different groups in the UK. These guidelines are known as Dietary Reference Values (DRV), Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNI) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). The RDA for Vitamin C is 60mg/day and certain fruit and vegetables are particularly high in this. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient in the diet with a wide range of functions in the body including maintaining healthy gums and teeth, aiding in mineral absorption and healing wounds. The students were consuming a mean of 72mg/day which is a good level and is above the RDA. Energy intakes at Reading University were varied but female students appear to have intakes slightly below the DRV, and males appear to be slightly over. More detailed analysis would be necessary to draw conclusions as to whether these values need to be maintained, increased or decreased. In order to maintain weight, energy intake should match energy expenditure, but the weight of the participants and the level of physical activity have not been assessed. If the physical activity is high, the energy intake should also be higher to meet demands on the body while if students are overweight the energy intake should be lowered to avoid weight gain. Although students show they are not living exclusively on junk food, there are a few key nutrients that do appear to be low in their diets and do not meet the DRV and RNI's. Much like the rest of the UK, the females who took part in the study show a low iron intake. Iron is an essential mineral for the body especially in women who are pre-menopausal. There are more than 2 billion people worldwide who are iron deficient, half of which have iron deficient anaemia. This can cause tiredness, decreased attention span, poor immune response and reduced work capacity; none of which are desirable while at University, so it would be beneficial to these students to increase their iron levels. The RNI for iron in the UK is currently 8.7mg for males and 14.8mg for females per day. The study shows a mean of 10.2mg per day for the students and while it is unlikely to acquire anaemia at these levels, it is important that levels throughout the UK are increased to meet the RNI and reduce the risks. The UK government also has recommendations for salt and has stated that the maximum intake for the population should be 6g/day. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), completed every 3 years, studies the diet and nutrition of a sample of the UK population. The NDNS has shown the mean salt intake for the UK to be 9.5g/day, which is a lot higher than the government recommends. The students who completed the study at the University of Reading appear to have a mean salt intake of only 5.6g/day so 'seem' to be setting an example for the rest of the country although it is likely there are inaccuracies in the results. Students questioned were all from food and nutrition courses and have knowledge of what a balanced diet should consist of. Diet can be a sensitive subject especially with young people, and there have been tendencies previously to alter results to impress, or participants may not want to admit what has actually been consumed. After speaking to a few students about the results, it is clear that they know what they should be consuming, but admitted that "it does not necessarily mean we carry this out." Some students spoke of leaving out some of the more unhealthy parts in their diets when answering the food frequency questionnaire, while increasing the quantities of fruit and vegetables consumed because they know that is what they should be eating. 