[Intake of milk and dairy products in a college population]

To carry out a descriptive study on the consumption of milk and dairy products in a college population and analyzing their nutritional contribution to the diet of these university students.

Registry of food consumption during a school day (24-hour recall) in a random sample of 500 college students with ages ranging 19-24 years. Gender, age, level of university studies, class timetable, and type of residence were collected from each interviewee.

98.6% of the college students interviewed referred having consumed some dairy product during the last 24 hours: 92% milk, 60% yogurts, 32.6% cheese, and 13% other products. There were no differences in the frequency of consumption of different dairy products by age, type of residence, level of university studies, or class timetables; low-fat diary products consumption was higher (p < 0.05) in women. The mean number of dairy products servings was 2.07, being higher among males (p < 0.05) (2.32) as compared to women (1.99). 42.6% had consumed at least 2 servings, with percentage differences (p < 0.05) between both genders. Consumption of low-fat dairy products represented 24.3% of the whole daily consumption of these foods. In the dietary models of college students, dairy products constitute the main source of calcium and phosphorus, although they provide significant amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol.

Although virtually all college students consumed milk and dairy products throughout the day, the mean value of servings consumed would be lower than the recommended one, particularly among girls. It would be convenient to recommend daily consumption of lowfat dairy products (milk and yogurts) and fresh cheese, which would increase minerals and vitamins intake without increase the caloric and saturated fat and cholesterol intake, as well as avoiding consumption of other dairy products (crème caramel, custard) rich in carbohydrates and cholesterol.