New Policy Brief Addresses Unhealthy Eating and Sedentary Habits Among Higher Education Students in Chile

UCHILE/DICYT The University of Chile has proposed to analyze the context faced by higher education students regarding nutrition and lack of physical activity, so it has launched the new policy brief “Healthy higher education establishments: Proposals to improve the food and mobility”, organized by the Transdisciplinary Group for Population Obesity (GTOP) and the VID Transdisciplinary Network Unit. The scenario experienced by the students of Casa de Bello is not alien to that of the national population, because according to the report of the World Obesity Federation of the United Nations, if people’s habits are not changed, to By 2025, 43 percent of the population will be obese in Chile.

Along these lines, the document reveals that students have a high consumption of unhealthy foods, a low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and often skip important meals in the training process, such as breakfast. In turn, it shows that this age population spends several hours a day with sedentary activities inside the university campuses. On the other hand, the study also highlights that there is a willingness of students to move actively in instances such as walks, bicycles and public transport.

Faced with this situation, the research indicates that the university environment at the national level can be regulated by coordination between the State and the institutions, through regulations, own guides or public policies, which aim to generate greater integral well-being in this social group.

The academic from the Faculty of Medicine and member of GTOP, Lorena Rodríguez, mentioned that “Chile is a country with significant food and nutritional problems in all age groups. These problems have social factors and determinants, which are linked to people’s environment. In this sense, according to the study we did at the University of Chile, there is between 9 to 15 percent of food insecurity in young students who are experiencing crisis processes”.

In this line, the document presents recommendations to increase physical activity in this environment and promote healthy eating within establishments. At a general level, the regulation of physical activity, an improvement to the infrastructure of the spaces and an increase in the supply of healthy foods are proposed.

Low physical activity and poor diet

Although Chile has had a “Guide for Healthy Universities and other Higher Education Institutions” since 2006, whose recommendations seek to regulate health promotion in educational organizations, this is voluntary.

In addition, from the Ministry of Health the focus has been placed on the school environment, there being no studies that show that the Guide is applied in universities or training centers, nor that there are results associated with it.

In this context, without much background on the national reality faced by university students, academics from the Faculty of Medicine, Lorena Rodríguez, Patricia Gálvez and Daniel Egaña, together with Liliana Morawietz, an academic from the Institute of Education, and Rodrigo Mora, an academic from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, carried out the investigative work.

Professor Rodríguez maintained that, according to the evidence obtained, “higher education campuses are characterized by being obesogenic environments, where it is difficult to access healthy foods, and where the infrastructure and organization of the institutions do not facilitate the practice of physical activity.”

For his part, Daniel Egaña, also part of the GTOP team, presented the document and alluded to the fact that, in general, students do not maintain a culture of healthy eating, gaining an average of three kilograms in the university stage. “According to previous studies, only half of the national students eat breakfast and a third skip lunch. In turn, in the age group of 20 to 29 years, there is 22 percent with obesity and 35 percent with overweight,” the researcher said.

Josiane Bonnefoy, Vice Chancellor for Student and Community Affairs, reflected on “the opportunity to accompany students in their transition, since they have a pre-university routine, which is mostly orderly. In the university, although they have greater autonomy, this is relative because they are still subject to rules, but these are not so structured, with disorder in class schedules and stress in the rhythm of study, which affects their quality of life” , held.

proposals

The study proposes an increase in physical activity by this age group, which must be accompanied by the improvement of the urban environment. In this sense, Egaña pointed out that, for example, “if we want young people to be more active when traveling, public policy must take charge of protecting them from dangers, such as rain in winter.”

In addition, the research argues that it is necessary to progress in mobility through better infrastructure that discourages car use and encourages the use of public transport, walking and cycling. A concrete proposal is that there is a purchase subsidy for this mobilization tool.

Regarding food, it is proposed to increase the scope of action of Law 20,606 to higher education establishments, that is, to carry the “high in” stamps (calories, saturated fats, sugars and sodium) to the sale of food in these spaces. In turn, the implementation of “fair points” inside the establishments is recommended, increasing the supply of fruits and vegetables.

Finally, an improvement to the infrastructure and quality of food in casinos is also considered, as well as the implementation of social marketing campaigns in accordance with these structural changes, and the mandatory incorporation of courses on food, nutrition and health.