NUTRITIONAL EDUCATION FOR THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: A HEALTHY EXPERIENCE WITH ECTS CREDITS

Background: Promoting healthy living habits is a complex task, especially at the university stage where young people are too busy to learn to cook or do physical exercise. Establishing a healthy dietary model among young people is vital. Objective: To promote healthy life style through ECTS credits courses in university students. Methods: 34 university students completed this course. They filled in series of surveys where the interest of each participant. The publicity media used, the methodology, the level of knowledge and their eating habits were evaluated. The data were analysed with the SPSS 20.0 statistical programme, with a level of statistical significance of p<0.05. Results: In terms of the publicity media used, 50% were informed through other people. The 38.2% indicated that the ECTS credits were their only reason, while the rest (61.8%) stated having a personal interest in the subject matter took the credits as an added interest (p = 0.008). At the start of the course, 67.6% believed that they had prior knowledge and 64.7% stated that they eat healthy food, despite the fact that 100% viewed food as a key element for health. Those with personal interests in the course considered that they had more prior knowledge of nutrition than those who followed the course solely to earn credits (p = 0.008). Conclusion: There are a variety of means of communication between university and students, although word of mouth appears to still be the most effective means. ECTS credits can be used to motivate the university population to train in subject matters that would contribute to their well-being and personal or professional development.