Estado nutricional e do comportamento alimentar dos estudantes dos cursos da saúde do centro de educação e saúde da UFCG- Cuité/PB.

Abstract

All coexistence, environment and university obligations end up making the practice of healthy, balanced eating very difficult, due to the load of academic work, behavioral changes presented by individuals, stress, dietary fads and inadequate time management. University entrance can be a stressful source, given the major changes in life and the symptoms of stress and depression are common among them. In order to develop appropriate intervention strategies, it is necessary to broaden the understanding of the interference of eating behavior allied to psychosocial relations in the eating practices of college students. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the stress level, eating behavior and its correlation with the nutritional status of university students from the Center for Education and Health of the Federal University of Campina Grande, campus Cuité / PB. The cross - sectional study was aimed at undergraduate students from all health courses at the Cuité / PB campus of UFCG - CES. The survey was conducted in three classes of each course, from the first, fourth and seventh periods. Each class has an average of 25 people, totaling a sample of 221 students. The stress level was verified by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the characterization of eating behavior was performed by the TFEQ-R21 questionnaire. Regarding the assessment of nutritional status, anthropometric data (weight and height) and body mass index (BMI = weight / height²) were collected. Finally, food consumption was characterized by a questionnaire adapted from food group consumption. The results observed in relation to eating behavior indicated that emotional eating was the most prominent related factor in all classes, and may be directly linked to the fact that the vast majority are female and under 25 years old. Also noteworthy is the high level of stress perceived in all the groups studied and a high consumption of salty foods such as fast food and sweet foods, by all categories of students interviewed. However, there is also a large consumption of fruits and vegetables by all, especially by students of Nutrition. Compared to other studies, it was found that most of the students participating in the research had a satisfactory BMI. Finally, the results allowed the presentation of the profile of the students of the Nutrition, Pharmacy and Nursing courses regarding the level of perceived stress, behavior and food consumption status and nutritional status.