Evaluación cuantitativa y cualitativa del desayuno en estudiantes universitarios y su relación con parámetros antropométricos

Abstract

Background: The university stage implies a change in the environment that affects the life style, such as the omission of breakfast. The aim is to analyze the breakfast habit and determine its relationship with anthropometric parameters and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Methods: The study was carried out with 123 students of the University of Murcia. The energy intake, variety of food and and anthropometric parameters (weight, height, skin folds and waist circumferences (WC) and hip) was analyzed. Results: The values of body mass index (BMI), WC, waist-hip index (WHI) and waist-height index (WHtI) were higher in men. The percentage of body fat was higher in women. 50% of men presented BMI>25, and 27.3% exceeded the value of WHtI, associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. 50% of men and 39.4% of women consumed a single group of foods, mainly dairy and less fruit. The energy covered was 9.62% for men and 12.59% for women. None of the men reached 20% of the daily energy at breakfast while 21.8% of the women did. Conclusions: Breakfast is a meal that university students make inadequately, both in quantity and variety of foods.