University students' eating habits and substance consumption (alcohol, tobacco, and drugs) according to gender and sport practice

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess university students' eating habits and unhealthy substance consumption (alcohol, tobacco, and drugs) as well as to determine the relationship between these factors, physical activity practice, and gender. Therefore, a descriptive inferential study was done by having 1085 students from the University of Seville complete a validated questionnaire. The main results showed proper and healthy eating habits by students. Alcohol is the substance that was most consumed, mainly during the weekend. Tobacco is the most consistently abused substance, and other drugs are consumed very little by students. Regarding gender, males regularly drink more alcohol than females, while females smoke more than males. Alcohol consumption is similar between active and sedentary students, but physically active students drink more alcohol on occasion and during the weekend than sedentary students. Likewise, the physically active students smoke at similar percentages to sedentary students over the weekend. Therefore, results suggest there is no relationship between physical activity practice and the different healthy habits taken into consideration in the present study.