Abstract

SAENZ DURAN, Shirly; GONZALEZ MARTINEZ, Farith  and  DIAZ CARDENAS, Shyrley. Eating habits and disorders associated to socio-demographic, physical and behavioural factors in university students, Cartagena Colombia. Rev Clin Med Fam [online]. 2011, vol.4, n.3, pp.193-204. ISSN 2386-8201.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S1699-695X2011000300003.

Objective. To describe the prevalence of eating habits and disorders in university students and their relationship with socio-demographic, physical and behavioural factors. Design. Cross-sectional study Setting. Municipality of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Participants. 1040 students in day and evening programmes at the University of Cartagena. Main measurements. A structured questionnaire was used to assess eating habits and socio-demographic factors; EAT-26 and SCOFF for eating disorders and the Holmes and Rahe scale for the susceptibility to disease. Occurrence was estimated by prevalence, assuming confidence 95% intervals. Relationships between variables were evaluated using odds ratios and multivariate analysis using nominal logistic regression. Results. The most common reason for not eating well was the lack of habit and time. Susceptibility to disease was 23.1% and the risk of anorexia and bulimia 14.2%. The best model for logistic regression with SCOFF showed statistical significance with age (OR: 1.86), susceptibility to disease (OR: 1.77), diet (OR: 2.81), colon problems (OR: 1.8), and lack of physical activity (OR: 3.04). Conclusions. Eating habits and disorders in university students are influenced by factors related to university life. This behavior should be considered as a serious problem that one that interferes with the smooth running of academic activities.

Keywords : Eating Habits; Eating Disorders; Students.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )