Practice of physical activity and level of adherence to the mediterranean diet in university students

Introduction: The practice of physical activity (PA) is a determining factor in a healthy lifestyle, together with other fundamental habits such as the type of diet. Objective: To determine the influence of daily PA volume (steps and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA]) and meeting recommendations on the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD). Methodology: A cross-sectional experimental design was carried out with 40 university students (19.13 +/- 3.27 years; 64.70 +/- 13.53 kg mass; 1,64 +/- 0,07 m high) were selected and wore the Xiaomi Mi band 4 PA bracelet for 7 consecutive days recording the minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity and the volume of steps. The KIDMED questionnaire was administered to determine the level of adherence to MD. Results: Subjects with medium adherence to MD showed more PA volume on the weekend and the whole week, compared to the group with low adherence to MD. Conclusion: University students with low adherence to MD tend to perform less MVPA volume. This study can be a starting point for the promotion of healthy habits from university PA programs.