Sedentary Lifestyle Among Third-Semester Dentistry Students at the Universidad Regional Autónoma de los Andes

Abstract

Sedentary lifestyles in university students is of concern since the population in academic training is vulnerable to the problem. This disease has an impact both physically and emotionally, a sedentary person shows a higher risk of suffering multiple chronic noncommunicable diseases and as for the emotional impact, it has been found that a sedentary person is more likely to suffer from insomnia, depression, anxiety, and stress. The objective of this work was to characterize the sedentary lifestyle of university students during their student career, for which the different causes will be determined and, in view of them, to propose foundations that will serve for prevention in future research on the exposed problem. Results. Sixty-six percent of the population studied were women. Fifty-six percent of the participants presented high levels of sedentary lifestyles. Seventy percent of the population studied did not perform any physical activity during recess, the main causes being lack of time; only 48% of those surveyed performed physical activity 2 to 3 days a week. Conclusions. The students present high levels of sedentary lifestyle due to the lack of physical activity, moderate or vigorous, for at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week.