Caracterización de hábitos alimentarios en universitarios. Estudio descriptivo.

Introduction: eating habits are a set of behaviors related to the preparation and consumption of food, due to their characteristics they can be healthy or unhealthy. University students face situations that predispose them to acquire eating habits that are harmful to their health, characterized by little time to eat, disproportionate consumption of food and preference for fast foods. The increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in this population could be related to the bad habits acquired during their transit through the university. Objective: to characterize the eating habits of university students in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. Materials and methods: it is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study, with a convenience sample of students enrolled in a Barranquilla District University who agreed to participate in the study. A characterization of sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle variables was made, which were evaluated with the questionnaire “Lifestyle in Young University Students (CEVJU-R)”. Results: unhealthy habits occurred in 13.28% of the participants. It can be affirmed that the eating habits in the studied population are associated with the socioeconomic stratum, in the same way lifestyle is associated with eating habits (P-value <0.05 and a confidence level of 95%). Conclusion: university life can become a risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases associated with eating habits, so it is important to work on promoting healthy eating habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]