Foto: A.Costa/UIB

The University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) conducted a study on the lifestyle and psychological well-being of Spanish university students and one of the results is that 7 out of 10 people believe they still have good health and quality of life. some habits related to food, alcohol and cell phones.

Most Spanish university students perceive their health and quality of life as good (75%) or very good (76%) and consider it normal to receive support and help from family and friends when they need it. In addition, approximately 40% have increased their physical activity in the last two years.

On the contrary, almost 30% admit that they use their mobile phone for more than five hours a day and spend more than 500 Euros (30.9%) on purchasing this device. Six out of ten people (64.3%) hardly follow a Mediterranean diet, and 34.2% believe they have a lower quality of sleep than before the pandemic.

About 20% of them have a moderate risk of addiction to alcohol, which is a substance that is started to be consumed more (up to 9% more) among university students due to the pandemic. These are some of the conclusions of the report detailed from the UIB.

Under the title “Mobile phone use, lifestyle and psychological well-being in university students”, by the Spanish Network of Universities for Health Promotion (REUPS) with the support of Fundación MAPFRE, Dr. It was carried out under the coordination of Antoni Aguiló Pons. , Professor of Physiotherapy at UIB.

Dr. Aguilo is also the president of REUPS. The campus and the Healthy University Vice-Chancellor collaborated, through the Healthy and Sustainable University Office, in compiling the data for the study in which UIB’s 2,173 students (13.3% of the sample) participated. .

Other results show that the University of Seville (41%) and UIB (39%) are places where there has been a greater increase in physical activity among students over the past two years. During the pandemic process, those who experienced the most fear and its consequences (39.2%) were the students of Sevilla University.

Those who show the least fear due to this situation are the students of the Balearic Islands (7.7%). UIB enrolls more students living with the University of Granada, with parents (70%) and a higher percentage of students sharing an apartment (57%).

These data influence the outcome of other variables such as the fact of having greater autonomy and independence, eating habits or tobacco and alcohol consumption, among others. 57.2% of the participants work less than 20 hours a week; 17.8%, 21 to 34 hours.

In all universities examined, the pandemic negatively affected the perception of quality of life. In UIB, 62.2% think they have a good quality of life and 20.9% think it is fair. The study shows that 60.4% of UIB students are affected by mobile phone use in terms of sleep quality.

29.5% worsened their sleep during the pandemic. The study shows, among other data, that 28.9% use their cell phone for more than 5 hours a day. More than 5 hours on the weekend 34%. 51.3% of them increased their use during the epidemic. According to the data collected from the students and reflected in the research, they use mobile phones for an average of 4.2 hours.

3% of UIB students have a high risk or possible dependence on alcohol. 11.5% are smokers; 12.5%, former smokers; 0.9% have a high dependency. 8.3% consume substances occasionally or frequently, and 2.7% consume more since the pandemic.

Regarding food, 38.1% adhered well to the Mediterranean diet and 27.6% had a healthier post-pandemic diet. 54.5% of UIB students performed physical activity more than 3 times a week during quarantine.

25.6% think that physical activity greatly affects emotional and physical health during the pandemic. 90.4% think that they have normal social support, above the research average. 41.9% declare to be infected with COVID-19. Close friends of 80.3% were infected with COVID-19.

15% hospitalized a family member for COVID-19. While 17.2% of them stated that they were very or very afraid of dying from COVID-19, 8.7% stated that a relative died of this disease, drawing attention to the data collected by this study, which was carried out by the UİB among university students, among others. Students from all over Spain.

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