Adherence to Mediterranean diet in university students and its relationship with digital leisure habits

Introduction: Mediterranean diet (MD) is one of the most complete and healthy dietary models according to numerous studies. In this sense, the university stage involves a substantial change in the eating habits of young adults away from the standards associated with MD. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the level of adherence to the MD of a university population sector, establishing relation patterns with the type of population where students reside and digital leisure habits related with video games. Material and methods: This descriptive and transversal research involved 490 university students (M = 22.8 years old; SD = 3.639), using the KIDMED, CESR and CHCV questionnaires for data collection. Results: More than 70% of the sample needed to improve their diet and only 26.1% eat properly. Besides this, the levels of video game addiction showed that 20% of participants stated potential or severe problems. Relations given for accession to the MD, frequency of use of video games and number of games played showed statistical differences, specifying that video games habits have influence in the accession to the MD at the university stage. Conclusion: Given the low percentage of university students who follow a diet of good quality and its relation with video games use, it is vital to create intervention programs which generate an improvement in the alimentation of this sector, as well as the decrease of sedentary leisure time.