Alimentação de estudantes universitários no período pós pandemia: relação com a vulnerabilidade social e o ambiente alimentar universitário

Abstract

Entering university is usually marked by a series of changes in the lives of adolescents who become young adults. These changes can result in changes in diet, increased sedentary activities, poorer sleep quality, use of legal and illegal drugs, food insecurity, and excessive weight gain. University students spend at least four years of their lives exposed to their university campuses, and during this period they can acquire eating habits that will continue into adulthood, so promoting healthy eating in this space is essential. However, the literature shows that the university food environment tends to have a high supply of ultra-processed foods. Thus, the objectives of the study are: to describe the diet of students entering university according to their situation of social vulnerability (Axis 1 - cross-sectional); to evaluate the evolution of students' diets after one year of entering university (Axis 2 - Cohort); to analyse the relationship between changes in diet according to the use of the university cafeteria and commercial establishments present in the university food environment (Axis 2 - Cohort). This is a quantitative cohort study with a convenience sample, which was conducted with students entering undergraduate courses at a university in Rio de Janeiro. All individuals over 18 years of age who had entered any undergraduate course at the university in 2022 were eligible for the study. Participants were recruited via email, to which a self-administered electronic form was sent. The questionnaires addressed the following topics: personal data and sociodemographic characteristics, nutritional status and health, diet on the previous day, eating habits, food and nutritional security, behaviours, chronic noncommunicable diseases, sleep, depression, anxiety and stress, household goods, and university food environment. Axis 1: Cross-sectional analyses were carried out with baseline students, which took place in the first semester of 2022 at UERJ, from June to October 2022, and, as some courses have students admitted twice a year, a new collection was carried out with students entering the second semester of 2022, from October 2022 to February 2023. Based on baseline data, with 924 students, it was observed that social vulnerability, assessed through the form of university admission, socioeconomic score and food security situation, significantly influenced the food consumption of these students. Natural or minimally processed foods were consumed more by students with a higher socioeconomic level, non-quota students and those in a food security situation. In contrast, the consumption of ultra-processed foods was less influenced by these variables. Axis 2: A cohort study was conducted with students who also participated in the second collection, carried out from April to December 2023. Analysing the data from 527 students, it was identified that the food consumption profile, in general, remained stable. Non-quota students frequented the university cafeteria more, which was related to the greater consumption of vegetables and natural foods. On the other hand, the consumption of ultra-processed foods did not differ significantly between those who frequented the university cafeteria and those who did not. The use of commercial establishments on campus was greater for snacks, with no difference among students, and a higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was observed among those who ate 3 or more meals in these establishments throughout the week. The data show that more socially vulnerable students had a lower consumption of healthy foods and the positive influence of the university cafeteria on the quality of food, reinforcing the importance of student retention policies to support students, in addition to interventions in the food environment aimed at promoting healthy eating habits.