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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Introduction: The transition from secondary school to university is associated with many
changes, at the social and surrounding influences’ levels, which may be a risk factor for
unhealthy lifestyles. It is known that the years spent at the university may be associated with
poor eating habits, with levels of fast-food consumption higher than desirable, possibly low
intake of fruits and vegetables and breakfast skipping, among others.
Objective: This study investigated some eating habits in a sample of students frequenting higher
education establishments in the Centre of Portugal.
Methods: It was carried out a questionnaire survey of self-response to investigate some of the
eating habits of the participants. The questionnaire was applied after all ethical issues were
guaranteed and after approval by the ethical committee. The number of valid questionnaires
obtained was 670.
Results: In the sample evaluated, most of the students revealed satisfactory eating habits, with
significant differences between age groups, the area of studies and the practice of high
competition sport. A considerable percentage of the participants, 40.8%, ate 5 meals per day
and only 0.6% ate less than 3 meals per day. Only 6.6% of the participants indicated that usually
do not eat breakfast. In general, the participants’ breakfast included milk (54.0% of positive
answers), bread (45.8% of positive answers), cereals (32.7% of positive answers) and coffee
(23.9% of positive answers). Regarding lunch, 30.1% of the participants ate soup, 28.4%
consumed vegetables, 28.2% ate pasta, 21.6% fish, 16.0% potatoes, 2.5% yoghurt, 15.5% soft
juices, 4.3% juices, 23.6% salad, 10.4% chips, 58.2% meat, 38.5% rice, 27.8% fruit, 9.4% a sweet
desert and 44.9% drank water.
Conclusions: The results pointed to the necessity of improving educational programs which can
contribute to improve university students’ eating habits.
Description
Keywords
Eating habits Survey
Citation
Florença, S.G., Ferrão, A.C., Ferreira, M., Duarte, J., Nunes, B., Morais, P.,... Guiné, R. (2019, maio). Study about eating habits of higher education students. In e-Resumos do XVIIII Congresso de Nutrição e Alimentação, Porto: Associação Portuguesa de Nutrição.