To determine the association between screen time and physical activity with quality of life among Chilean university students.Cross-sectional and analytical study conducted on 726 first-year univer...

Objective: To estimate the association between eating habits and quality of life (QOL) in Chilean university students. Participants: 1,212 students from the Universidad de La Frontera, Chile (mean age 18.7 ± 2.15) were surveyed in January–March 2018. Methods: Participants completed a cross-sectional self-report survey to evaluate QOL using the WHOQOL-BREF scale and eating habits with a food habits survey. Results: Students reporting a better healthy eating habits score also presented a higher QOL. Eating breakfast and eating home-cooked meals is a protective factor for QOL in each domain. The consumption of sweet snacks was shown to be a risk factor for the physical health and environment domains. The consumption of fast food is shown as the greatest risk factor in the physical domain. Conclusion: Healthy and unhealthy eating habits are associated with different dimensions of QOL. University authorities should develop new policies to improve the QOL of the entire university community.

This study aims to determine the association of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and its food groups with depressive symptoms in Chilean university students. The study design was cross-sectional. A total of 934 first-year students at a Chilean public university completed a self-report questionnaire. To assess adherence to Mediterranean diet, an index validated in Chile (Chilean-MDI) was used, and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were assessed using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Logistic regression models were used to analyze the association of adherence to Mediterranean diet and its food groups with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms adjusted for the main confounders. Students with moderate and high adherence to Mediterranean diet showed lower odds of depression [DASS-21 > 5, odds ratio (OR) = 0.64; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.47-0.88] than those with low adherence to Mediterranean diet. The consumption of 1-2 servings/day of vegetables (OR = 0.63; 95%CI: 0.43-0.92), > 2 servings/week of nuts (OR = 0.41; 95%CI: 0.21-0.80), 1-2 servings/day of fruits (OR = 0.60; 95%CI: 0.42-0.85), 1-2 servings/week of fish and seafood (OR = 0.67; 95%CI: 0.48-0.94), and 1/2-3 units/week of avocado (OR = 0.67; 95%CI: 0.48-0.93) showed low odds of depressive symptoms. The consumption of whole grains and cereals (> 2 servings/day) (OR = 1.63; 95%CI: 1.02-2.61) showed the opposite association. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, avocado, fish, and seafood are associated with a lower likelihood of depression in Chilean university students. New policies and educational strategies are recommended to improve diet quality and the mental health of the entire university community.

College students are in a critical stage in their life style due to the transition between high school and university and they may be prone to develop cardiovascular diseases. To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in students from first and third year at the University of La Frontera, Temuco-Chile, according to faculty, gender and socioeconomic status (SES). Cross-sectional study. Anthropometry, blood pressure, lipid profile, blood glucose, insulin resistance (IR), sedentary lifestyle, tobacco and alcohol consumption were evaluated during 2014 in randomly selected 163 freshmen aged 19.2 ± 1.8 years and 163 third year students aged 21.7 ± 2.5 years (49% females), stratified by faculty, career and gender. 32.4% of students had prehypertension, 30.6% abdominal obesity, 26.3% insulin resistance, 25.7% dyslipidemia and 8.9% metabolic syndrome. Third grade students had higher prevalence of elevated total and LDL cholesterol and higher alcohol consumption, especially among students of middle and high socioeconomic level. Compared with students from the School of Medicine, students from the Education Faculty had 3.9, 3.3 and 2.7 times greater likelihood of being obese, having elevated LDLcholesterol and being smokers, respectively. Women had the highest prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and dyslipidemia. Men had the highest prevalence of prehypertension and smoking. Educational programs are required to promote healthy lifestyles among these students.

Stroke is the second largest single cause of death and disability in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). There have been large overall declines in stroke mortality rates in most LAC countries in recent decades. To analyze trends in mortality caused by stroke in LAC countries in the period 1979–2015. We extracted data for age-standardized stroke mortality rates per 100,000 in LAC for the period 1979–2015 from the World Health Organization Mortality Database. Joinpoint regression was used to analyze the trends and compute the annual percent change (APC) in LAC as a whole and by country. Analyses were conducted by gender, region and World Bank income classification. Mortality from stroke has decreased in LAC over the study period by an average APC of –1.9%. Most countries showed significant downward trends, with the sharpest decreases in Chile, Colombia and Uruguay. We recorded statistically significant decreases of –1.4% and –2.4% in mortality rates in men and women, respectively, in the whole LAC. Southern and high-income countries showed the steepest decreases. Stroke mortality has decreased in LAC, in both sexes, especially in southern and high-income countries. Our results could serve as a reference for the development of primary prevention and acute management of stroke policies focused on countries with higher mortality.