PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND EATING BEHAVIORS AMONG CHILEAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

Western society is currently characterized by sedentary behavior at work, domestic, recreational and leisure activities, as well as unbalanced caloric intake and indiscriminate consumption of salt, sugar and saturated fats. Chile is no stranger to this reality: almost two thirds of the population is overweight, in addition to not practicing sports or any physical activity. Objective: To describe the eating behaviors and the physical activity of students enrolled in undergraduate programs in health sciences and human sciences at a Chilean university, located in the central-southern part of the country. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted with a sample of 331 students, men and women (20-24 years old), who were in the third year of undergraduate programs at a university in central-southern Chile. This research used the validated scale of Colombian origin “CEVJU-R2”. Results: Most university students reported having unhealthy eating behaviors and more than half of them show low levels of physical activity, regardless of whether their undergraduate programs were related to health sciences or not. However, students of health-related professions scored slightly better in relation to their peers in the humanities. Conclusion: University students, as well as the Chilean population, show low levels of physical activity and unhealthy eating patterns.