ANALYSIS OF THE FOOD ROUTINE OF HEALTH STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VASSOURAS

Abstract

In recent decades, Brazil has been going through a period of food transition, characterized by changes in the profile related to a drop in malnutrition rates and an increase in obesity rates. This picture, in turn, mainly reflects the influence of industrialization on people's daily diet, marked by the high intake of processed foods with low nutritional value and high caloric value. This study aimed to assess the difficulties faced in relation to inappropriate eating behavior during the academic period, which end up influencing their quality of life, and to develop guidelines on the importance of healthy eating. The problem initially required a bibliographic study, in order to establish theoretical frameworks for the research, then it was decided to carry out exploratory field research, using a qualitative approach to obtain primary data. Approval by the Research Ethics Committee, under approval number 5,074,307. 120 students from different health courses at the University of Vassouras were evaluated, 86.7% female and 13.3% male, with a prevalence of students aged 18 to 30 years with 85.8%. In general, the eating habits of the evaluated university students are adequate, but it is noteworthy that they practice little physical activity, the consumption of alcohol, although even in small amounts, was relatively high, the consumption of soft drinks, sweets and industrialized products was worrying also, in addition to high levels of anxiety and other factors that show that academic routine influences the diet and quality of life of students.