[Do the Spanish university students follow Mediterranean dietary patterns?]

To determine the pattern of food intake among the students of the University of Alicante (UA) by the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

Descriptive trans-sectional study estimating the individual intake by means of a questionnaire of food intake frequency (QFIF) in a representative sample of 380 college students.

age, gender, geographical area of origin, self-communicated weight and height; types and intake frequencies of the foods included in the QFIF. The percentage of adherence was calculated taking into account the actual intake and the intake recommended in the guideline of traditional Mediterranean diet: 100 x servings consumed/recommended servings. We established 5 ranges of percentage of adherence: optimal intake (80%-119%), acceptable intake (60%-79%), deficient intake (40%-59%), very deficient intake (< 39%), excessive intake (> 120%). We analyzed the differences in proportions distribution and the Student's t test with EPIDAT 3.1 and SPSS 15.0.

The prevalence of overweight/obesity is higher in men (34.6%) than in women (9.8%), p < 0.001, whereas women had higher prevalence of low weight (7.0%) than men (0.7%), p < 0.05. The consumption of grains and derivatives was very deficient (women = 90.6; men = 94.9) whereas the intake of red meats (women = 90.6; men = 92.7) and cold meats (women = 95.9%, men = 96.3%) was excessive. No student had an "optimal intake" or an "acceptable intake" of all the dietary groups (n = 12).

The educational level and access to the information do not protect the university population from socio-environmental factors that have an influence on their dietary habits. The public health strategies focused on this population group should be strengthen.