Abstract
Abstract Aims: To analyze the prevalence of risky behaviors among physical education undergraduates; to determine prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable chronic diseases (NCCD) among university, and; to determine the association between healthy life habits and physical activity. Method: A cross-sectional study with 903 undergraduate Physical Education students. The study used a self-administered questionnaire on health-related life habits. All questions were obtained from the Surveillance of Risk and Protection Factors for Chronic Diseases through Telephone Interviews. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: Of the 903 students, 57.4% were women, 67.6% were between 20-29 years of age, 68.7% consumed alcohol, 28.5% did not do physical activity, and 33.2% were overweight. Regarding the eating habits considered a risk for NCCD, women exhibited more risk factors than men, whereas 41.1% drank more full-fat milk (p = 0.01) and 31.8% ate more fatty meats, while men drank more soda (p < 0.01). Physically active students consumed more fruits (p < 0.01) and salads (p = 0.01) and drank less soda (p < 0.01). The physically inactive students had a high prevalence of getting diabetes (p < 0.01) and of suffering from hypertension (p = 0.01) and high cholesterol (p < 0.01). Conclusions: University students in our study had unhealthy lifestyles. There is an urgent need for both a formulation and implementation of public health policies to promote health and decrease risk factors for NCCD.
Highlights
In recent decades, lifestyle has been recognised as an important determinant of health status and has become a focus of increasing research interest worldwide
A total of 903 students out of the total of 1208 students enrolled in the program during the academic year of 2016 were included in the study
If the student missed both opportunities, he/she was not included in the study
Summary
Lifestyle has been recognised as an important determinant of health status and has become a focus of increasing research interest worldwide. It is difficult to change unhealthy habits that adults have adopted in their youth, many effects of health risk factors among adults are avoidable if these behaviours are identified and changed at an early stage[6,7]. When students reach high school or university, the rapid changes in biological, emotional, cognitive, and social development influence their behavior. At this stage, adolescents and young people are normally curious and experiment with a variety of things which supposedly form part of growing up. Lines are drawn at such behavior, these behaviors are unacceptable and are considered harmful to them and the society[9]
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