ABSTRACT
Objective:
Compare excess weight in undergraduate nursing junior and senior students.
Methods:
A cross sectional study was developed with a sample of 91 junior students and 63 senior students. In bivariate analysis, Pearson Chi-square and/or Fischer's Exact tests were applied. For ordinal variables, the chi-square test for linear trend was used. Differences between groups were also verified by using odds ratio. A statistical significance level of 5% was used.
Results:
Mean age was 22.4 years, and the group was predominantly made up of women, single, in stable relationships, black and with family income of 3 to 5 minimum wages. A high prevalence of high waist circumference and high to very high risk for waist-hip ratio was observed among the groups, as well as excess weight for junior (30.8%) and for seniors (30.2%).
Conclusion:
The groups were similar in relation to the researched variables. There is a need for encouraging students to adopt healthy habits, mainly eating habits and physical activity, as well as investigating the association of these results with other changeable risk factors.
Keywords:
Nursing Students; Nursing; Obesity