Lifestyle among Brazilian university students: A cross-sectional analysis according to the type of institution and area of study

Abstract

When the lifestyle (LS) of university students is marked by negative and risky choices, these individuals may be subject to the impairment of their quality of life and academic performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the LS of Brazilian university students according to the type of institution and course area. Cross-sectional study, carried out in 2021 with university students from the five Brazilian regions, aged between 18 and 59 years. The Kruskal-wallis and Chi-square tests were used in the analyses, adopting a significance of 5% (p<0.05). The sample included 2.373 students (25,28 ± 7,18 years old, 68,2% women), of which 82,5% were from public higher education institutions. University students from public institutions presented a better lifestyle in the nutrition domain (0,008). University students from private institutions showed better LS in the introspection (<0,001) and work (0,013) domains. Among the course areas, the Health/Biological area presented the best score in the domains physical activity (<0,001), nutrition (0,006), cigarettes and drugs (0,008), introspection (0,003) and total score (<0,001). It is concluded that the best behaviors of university LS stand out for the low use of cigarettes, drugs and alcohol consumption, while the negative aspects are represented by low levels of physical activity and the difficulty dealing with behaviors such as hurry, anger and hostility.