Prevalence of factors associated with chronic diseases in university students: PNS 2013 and 2019

To assess the prevalence of risk and protective factors for non-communicable diseases among Brazilian university students.

Data from the 2013 and 2019 National Health Survey were used to assess undergraduate students (≥ 18 years). Risk factors included consumption of unhealthy foods, sedentary behavior, insufficient physical activity, alcohol and tobacco consumption, overweight, and obesity, while protective factors involved consumption of healthy foods and leisure-time physical activity. Prevalences and confidence intervals were described for each year, stratified by sex, professional occupation, race/skin color, and age group.

The prevalence of regular consumption of soft drinks (men: 27.9% to 12.5%; women: 22.8% to 10.7%), sweets (men: 27.1% to 17.6%; women: 33.2% to 20.4%), and insufficient physical activity (men: 37.6% to 22.7%; women: 57.7% to 37.3%) decreased, while the prevalence of regular fruit and vegetable consumption (men: 16.1% to 27.2%; women: 22.6% to 34%) and leisure-time physical activity (women: 28.3% to 37.3%) increased. Regular consumption of beans (65.1% to 55.8%) and leisure-time physical activity (32.4% to 42.9%) increased among students with jobs. Leisure-time physical activity (37.2% to 46.4%) increased and sweet consumption (33.7% to 17.5%) decreased among white/Asian students, while regular consumption of beans decreased among Black/indigenous students (69.9% to 57.1%).

The prevalence of most risk factors decreased. The prevalence of fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity remained low but increased.