Relationship between life style, body mass index and body image in a group of university students

Youth (18 to 25 years old) represents one of the key moments for development and acquisition of healthy or unhealthy behaviors. The aim of the project was to evaluate the lifestyle of the bachelor degree students at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, and identify features that may require change. The methodology included a lifestyle assessment of a representative sample (n=333; 55.6% females; average age 20.8 years) using the FANTASTIC instrument (Likert scale, Alpha Cronbach 0.92), as well as obtaining self‐reported weight and stature and body image using the silhouettes of Stunkard (SS). 92.8% of the subjects presented a healthy lifestyle, significantly greater proportion of unhealthy in males (p = 0. 007). BMI was 76.02% normal, 9.24% underweight, 12.32% overweight and 2.39% obesity (highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in males and low weight in the females). BMI was significantly higher in not healthy (p = 0. 025), as well as SS (p = 0. 000). Main conclusions include that higher scores (healthy lifestyle‐related) were associated with lower BMI and SS (Pearson r =−0.181; p = 0. 000 and r =−0.156; p = 0. 004 respectively). Results underline the need to develop health education programs to establish preventive or corrective actions focused on the adoption of healthy behaviors that facilitate healthy body weight and preventing associated risk factors.