A REVIEW OF LATIN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ LIFESTYLES

Abstract

During the last years, our society has experienced profound changes on health matters. These changes are due to a number of environmental factors that trigger the development of certain lifestyles which could either endanger or protect people’s health. Objective: To research about the concept of lifestyle and Iberoamerican university students’ lifestyles considering the available evidence. Methods: A manual and electronic bibliographic review of articles concerning lifestyles in a Iberoamerican university population from the year 2002, was done. In addition, information about the concept of lifestyles and statistical data available from the Ministry of Health in Chile and other research organizations about young people’s lifestyles, were collected. Results: Most of the researches carried out, have studied lifestyles in a descriptive form. Nutrition and physical exercising, sexual behavior, tobacco, alcohol and drug consumption are the most studied habits. Conclusions: Young university students are a vulnerable population that must be studied in a particular way in order to create and assess intervention programs according to their needs.