Eating habits and depressive symptoms in university students of the Nutrition and Dietetics Career at a private university in Lima, 2021

Introduction: Depression is the main factor that contributes to deaths by suicide, whose number is close to 800,000 per year. Various studies indicate that good food education can lead to many health benefits, this can reduce the risk of diet-related chronic diseases, but there is also evidence that a healthy eating habit can reduce depressive symptoms. Objective: To determine the relationship between eating habits and depressive symptoms in university students of the Nutrition and Dietetics career at a private university in Lima. Methods: Cross-sectional analytical observational study. 264 students enrolled in the 2021-2 period at a private university in Lima were studied. The dependent variable was depressive symptoms. This score was found using the PHQ-9 questionnaire. The independent variable was eating habits, through a survey carried out at a University in Lima applied to university students from the same study house. Results: 88.3% of the students presented adequate eating habits. On the other hand, it was evidenced that the students presented greater cases of minimal (36%) and mild (33%) depressive symptoms, while the severe and moderately severe cases were lower with (4.2%) and (9, 5%), respectively. Conclusions: It was found that more than half of the students had good eating habits. Likewise, a higher case of minimal depressive symptoms.