Abstract

BECERRA-BULLA, Fabiola; PINZON-VILLATE, Gloria  and  VARGAS-ZARATE, Melier. Food practices of a group of college students and the perceived difficulties for healthy eating. rev.fac.med. [online]. 2015, vol.63, n.3, pp.457-463. ISSN 0120-0011.  https://doi.org/10.15446/revfacmed.v63n3.48516.

Background. The results of similar studies carried over in other universities generally show inadequate eating habits with low consumption of fruit and vegetables, and a high intake of sweets. Objective. To determine the nutritional conditions through IMC and the wrist circumference in students that attended to the course Estilos de Vida Saludable during the second semester of 2010 and the first semester of 2012. These students are enrolled in different programs of the National University of Colombia. Furthermore, to determine feeding practices and to identify perceived barriers to make possible a healthy eating in the students that attended the abovementioned course. Materials and methods. This study is an observational, descriptive and transversal type. Anthropometric assessment was performed and food consumption was assessed by means of a food consumption frequency questionnaire. Results. It was observed that although the prevalence of students with a normal nutritional condition was high, there is a significant prevalence of overweight. Regarding food consumption, the results of this study generally show inadequate eating habits with low consumption of fruit and vegetables and a high intake of sweets. The main reasons mentioned for not getting a healthy eating were class schedules, habits and economic factors. Conclusion. These findings are consistent with studies in other university contexts. According to these results, it is important that universities become health promoting entities, since students spend several years of their life in them, and it is necessary to offer real possibilities in order to modify positively their habits and eating behaviors.

Keywords : Food consumption; Nutritional status; Students; Feeding behavior.

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