Lifestyles related to health in university students

The objective of the present study was to determine factors that may explain healthy lifestyles in university students, so to establish programs for health promoting lifestyles in educational institutions. A cross-sectional descriptive study was applied in seven universities from Colombia's Caribbean coast within the framework of the Programs for wellness and health promoting lifestyles for university students. A total of 2203 university students from undergraduate academic programs at each university took part in the study. The FANTASTIC questionnaire was used to measure lifestyles. In addition, a survey to evaluate sociodemographic and academic variables was filled. A percentage of 9% of the students have excellent lifestyle, and 46% were assessed as good. Based on the Multivariate regression approach, we observed that women are more inactive [OR 1,5 (IC 95% 1,1-1,9)] and they have also low quality of sleep [OR 1,4 (IC 95% 1,1-1,6)]. Younger students consume tobacco [OR 1,4 (IC 95% 1,1-1,9)] they do not sleep well and show inability to manage stress [OR 2,1 (IC 95% 1,5-2,9)]. Students from the lowest socio-economic stratum have more probability of lower consumption of fruits and vegetables but higher consumption of salt, fat, and sugar [OR 1,7 (IC 95% 1,1-2,8)]. Lifestyles related to health in university students might be explained by socio-demographic and academic factors. Improvement strategies for lifestyles based on programs for health promotion in universities are imperative.