Brief intervention on the consumption of fruits and vegetables and physical activity in university students

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that up to 2.7 million lives could be saved annually if enough fruits and vegetables were consumed. Regular physical activity has been shown to reduce the risk of various diseases and help with energy balance and weight control. For university students it is complex to follow healthy guidelines such as the consumption of fruits and vegetables and the realization of physical activity due to the lack of time to cook and academic commitments. Objective: To determine the nutritional status and physical activity of university students before and after an educational intervention with WHO recommendations. Materials and methods: A prospective longitudinal study in which 70 university students were evaluated. The intervention consisted of an individualized educational talk. The nutritional status was evaluated by means of a survey on the consumption of fruits and vegetables and anthropometric measurements and physical condition by recording the time of habitual physical activity per week and the Harvard step test. The data were analyzed using the statistical software XL-STAT version 2014.3.07. Results and discussion: The intervention had a positive effect on healthy lifestyle habits, increasing the percentage of compliance with the physical activity recommendations, 16% in men and 9% in women. In addition, the intake of fruits and vegetables increased by 14% and 12%, respectively. Conclusions: These improvements provide a basis for designing and implementing strategies that increase the percentage of adherence to healthy lifestyle habits through lowcost and easy-to-adopt interventions. (AU)

Caracterización del autoconcepto en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios de algunos programas de pregrado de la ciudad de Manizales / Self-concept characterization based on university students sampled of some undergraduate programs from Manizales

Resumen Objetivo: Caracterizar el autoconcepto en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios adscritos a dos universidades de la ciudad de Manizales y analizar el efecto de la disciplina y la formación profesional sobre este constructo. Método: Se empleó el cuestionario AF5, se describieron las variables, se comparó el desempeño en las diferentes dimensiones del autoconcepto presentado por los estudiantes, discriminando entre semestres por programas y género. Para ello se trabajó la prueba t o análisis de varianza (dependiendo del número de medias a comparar), o las pruebas no paramétricas correspondientes. Resultados: Se encontró que para el caso de los hombres, a nivel de autoconcepto académico-laboral y social, los estudiantes del programa de Filosofía presentan menores promedios que los de las demás carreras evaluadas. Se evidenciaron menores promedios entre los estudiantes de Historia y Licenciatura en Ciencias Sociales, respecto a programas del área de la salud. En el caso de las mujeres, se hallaron diferencias significativas a nivel del autoconcepto académico-laboral entre las estudiantes de primer semestre del programa de Filosofía con un menor promedio, respecto a las mujeres del programa de Desarrollo Familiar. Conclusión: Los estudiantes quedarán ubicados por encima del promedio de los baremos existentes para la prueba, lo que hace evidente la necesidad de realizar estudios de estandarización de la prueba para población universitaria colombiana.

Abstract Objective: This research sampled 375 university students belonging to two universities in Man izales during 2013-I in order to analyze self-concept, and the effects of discipline and professional training. Method: The AF5 self-concept questionnaire was used. For this purpose, variables were described and characterized in the performance of self-concept related to academic-labor, social, emotional, family and physical dimensions and compared and differentiated based on semesters, program and genre. A T test was applied for variance analysis (depending on the number of aver ages to compare) or the corresponding non-parametric tests. Results: It was found that men from the Philosophy program compared with the others from the evaluated programs, presented lower averages related to self-conception concerning academic, labor and social levels. Also when com paring a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences and History, History students showed evident lower averages. On the other hand, female students in the first semester Philosophy program showed evident differences in self-conception concerning academic-labor compared to female students in the Family Development program. Conclusion: Students will be considered above average in the existing scales for the testing, which makes evident the need to carry out standardization studies of the test for Colombian university population.