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Objective.: Motivation for the study: it is important to assess the level of knowledge about healthy eating in university students as this allows raising awareness about the practice and maintenance of healthy eating habits. Main findings: most university students from the nine health careers had insufficient knowledge about healthy eating. The highest proportion of students with sufficient knowledge were found in the career of nutrition. Implications: there is a need for projects at the university level that encompass the triad of psychology, food, and body; which would improve healthy eating habits in university students. To assess the healthy eating (HE) knowledge of health students and the factors associated with the university environment., Materials and Methods.: This was a cross-sectional study of 512 university students (≥ 18 years) enrolled in nine undergraduate health careers. It was conducted from April to November 2017. The Instrument for Assessment of Health Promotion in Universities and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire were used. In addition, we measured weight, height and waist circumference. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out with SPSS version 23.0., Results.: We found that most university students from the nine health careers had insufficient knowledge about healthy eating (71.9%; n=368). However, the highest proportion of students with sufficient knowledge was found in the career of nutrition (15.3%; n=22), followed by those in the physical education career (12.5%; n=18). The lowest percentage of students with sufficient knowledge was found in the career of medicine (8.3%; n=12). Multivariate analysis showed that sufficient knowledge about healthy eating was related to participation in healthy eating activities (p=0.012; PR=1.94), participation in activities addressing self-esteem and self-knowledge (p=0.046; PR=0.59) and being overweight (p=0.036; PR=1.53)., Conclusion.: A low percentage of health students had sufficient knowledge about healthy eating. However, participation in healthy eating, self-esteem and self-knowledge activities at the university managed to improve the level of knowledge. We recommend the development of university projects that include the psychological, food and body triad, thus involving all health careers, with the aim of improving the health and quality of life of university students.

Objectives: To assess the association of academic education in health professions programs with the knowledge and use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by university students and to determine whether CAM can promote a healthy university environment., Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 512 university students enrolled in health professions programs in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, from April to November 2017. The Assessment Tool for Health Promotion at the University was used to collect sociodemographic, academic and CAM data. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed considering the outcomes "knowledge of CAM" and "CAM in the promotion of a healthy university environment" using SPSS Statistic version 20.0., Results: Data from 512 participants were analyzed. Women (n = 357; 69.7%), young students (n = 393; 76.8%) and unemployed students (n = 429; 83.8%) predominated. Knowledge of CAM was associated with health profession program (OR = 0.934; p = 0.047), paternal education (OR = 0.641; p = 0.024), employment (OR = 0.542; p = 0.028) and participation in extracurricular activities (OR = 1.275; p = 0.007). There was a proportional difference between knowledge and use of CAM ranging from 2:1 to 11:1 among the 21 modalities. University students believed that CAM could promote a healthy university environment (p = 0.000), which was influenced by gender (OR = 2.089; p = 0.004) and knowledge of CAM (OR = 16.601; p = 0.000)., Conclusions: University students' knowledge of CAM was influenced by the health profession program, paternal education, employment and participation in extracurricular activities. The percentage of use of CAM modalities was lower than the percentage of knowledge. University students' belief that CAM could foster a healthy university environment is influenced by gender and knowledge of CAM., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)