Perfil de saúde dos moradores da Casa do Estudante Universitário da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.

Abstract

Background: University students, in general, are young people seeking training, who are going through a transition phase characterized by significant morphological and physiological, behavioral, cognitive and social changes. This time of life coincides with the entry into higher education, where new social relations are stablished and behaviors are acquired, making the university vulnerable to situations that endanger their health. For students who reside in university housing, in addition to the factors already mentioned, there is the issue of changing the city, resulting in the removal of the family environment and social network as well as the fact of living in a university residence, where a new space will be shared with strangers. Purpose: To draw a health profile of residents of a university residence of the Federal University of Santa Maria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 768 students, and a questionnaire was used to search all variables. A descriptive analysis was performed including: frequencies and 95% confidence intervals, for categorical variables, average and standard deviation for continuous variables. All analyzes were conducted in STATA 12.0. Results: In the sum of physical activity (transportation and leisure time) 71.8% of the students were active, 55.8% were active only in transportation and 30% active only in leisure time. Only 11.2% had regular consumption of fruits and vegetables, 42.4% reported having consumed excess alcohol in the last month, and 9.4% had consumed at least one cigarette in the past 30 days. It was also observed that 18.9% of students perceived their health as regular/bad, 6.2% of respondents reported the presence of dyslipidemia, and 25% were overweight or obese. Conclusion: We concluded that the students had low levels of physical activity, especially in the leisure time; low regular consumption of fruits and vegetables; excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco; high prevalence of self-reported health regular/bad; as well as high prevalence of overweight and obesity. Therefore, we need to develop programs that encourage the adoption of a healthier lifestyle in this population, and the university is a good place to create and implement strategies that encourage behavioral changes.