Relación de los hábitos alimenticios con el estado nutricional en estudiantes de la Carrera de Medicina de la Universidad de Cuenca, 2023-2024

Abstract

Background: modern nutrition as a science has its beginnings in the 18th century, with the contributions of the chemical revolution and the application of the scientific method to understand the complete nutritional process of human beings. Despite this, in Ecuador there have been no significant achievements in meeting the goals for good nutrition, showing, on the contrary, a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity. Objective: to identify the relationship between eating habits and nutritional status in students of the Medicine Course at the University of Cuenca. Method: a cross-sectional analytical study was carried out on 276 students; applying the “Questionnaire to evaluate eating behaviors and habits in higher education students” and the nutritional status was determined through the Body Mass Index (BMI). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS program. The results are presented in simple frequency tables and cross tables with chi-square inferential analysis and significant p value <0.05; in addition, the OR statistic with a 95% confidence interval to determine the type of association. Results: women predominated in the study, the average age was 20.5 years and the first academic year. 71% of the students had a normal nutritional status and 65.2% had healthy eating habits. A statistically significant association was found between overweight and obesity with the age group of 18 to 20 years and ≥ 24 years. Conclusions: the majority of students presented a normal nutritional status and have adequate eating habits, however, there is a significant percentage of malnutrition due to deficiency or excess