[Eating habits in physical therapy students]

a) To know the eating and exercising habits of undergraduate Physical Therapy students; b) To promote awareness among these future health professionals and educators of the need to foster adequate eating habits among patients and the general population.

A dietary and physical activity questionnaire, regarding a seven-day period, distributed among students of the School of Physical Therapy (University of Valladolid) in the city of Soria, Spain (n = 131; sex (m/f): 38/93).

Results show that a high percentage of the subjects follow the recommendations of the new Nutritional Pyramid of the Spanish Nutrition Society (SEN) regarding intake of meat, fish, milk, dairy products and exercise habits. This is not the case, however, for products such as pasta, bread and cereals, vegetables, fruits, legumes and olive oil. Furthermore, fast food is taken, on average, once a week despite the recommended sporadic monthly intakes.

According to results, formative programmes should be carried out to enable these students to encourage healthy diets. Thus, diseases related to non-healthy eating habits could be prevented, and information on the issue could be spread among the population.