Self-perception of food consumption and observance of the Ten Steps to Healthy Eating among university students in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Abstract The scope of this study is to analyze the relationship between self-perception of eating habits and observance of the Ten Steps to Adequate and Healthy Eating among university students in Porto Alegre/RS. An online questionnaire was applied to students at a private university in Porto Alegre. Personal information, anthropometric data and eating behavior of the participants were collected. Data were analyzed by frequency and proportion, and statistical associations using Pearson’s Chi-square and the linear trend test, adopting a significance level of 5%, using version 23.0 of the SPSS statistical program. The sample consisted of 357 students, 61.3% of which were female, between 20 and 29 years of age (56%). A total of 34.2% of the students were overweight and 55.5% did not consider they had healthy eating habits. Low observance was observed in eight of the Ten Steps to Adequate and Healthy Eating A review of healthy eating revealed an inverse relationship with observance of the guideline steps, since only 3 steps were followed by more than 60% of the students who evaluated their own eating habits positively. This result suggests that this population may have a distorted view of their own eating habits and need to be enlightened regarding adequate and healthy eating.