Abstract
Macronutrient composition of meals consumed by young people had been a major concern of nutritionist across the globe, as this
has a direct impact on their growth process. However, it becomes more pertinent for young people who are vegetarians which imply
that they may have challenges accessing those macronutrients such as protein which are predominantly available in animal products.
The study investigated the macronutrient composition of vegetarian meals served undergraduates of Babcock University. The study
carried at Babcock University, Ilishan Remo Ogun State, Nigeria utilized a sample of 210 students. Samples of each cooked food
served to the students were collected for each meal served during the whole week. Samples were analyzed chemically according to
the official methods of analysis described by the Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC, 2005). All analyses were carried
out in duplicate. The proximate analyses results of the samples were analyzed statistically by means of SPSS version 16.0 to calculate
the mean and standard deviation. ANOVA was used to determine significant differences between variables and Duncan test was
used to separate the means. While significant differences were observed in terms of protein between bread, cornflakes, granular and
rice and coleslaw. Beans, Oat, Custard, Eba, Fried Yam, Indomie, Jollof Rice, Jollof Spaghetti/Beans, Pap, Pottage, Rice and Beans
and Yam were not significantly different. The highest Energy was found in Cornflakes (1567.89±94.35kcal), highest Protein in Rice
and Coleslaw (65.36±1.98% and 20.64±2.91mg respectively). The macronutrients intake of the undergraduates was below RDI.
When separated by sex, only female undergraduates met 100% and above of their RDI for protein. This low intake of macronutrients
by the respondents can be attributed to meals skipping which was found among respondents in this study
