Changes in students daily habits and health after they start college

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The increasing number of publications about university students' lives reveals the growing interest that the scientific community holds in this theme. Such studies point to changes in the health of this population after entering this level of education. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates changes in these students' daily habits after they start college and their impact on their physical and mental health. METHODS: A qualitative research was adopted, and semi-structured interviews were applied to eight students. Data was verified using a content analysis technique, which resulted in three thematic categories: Habits variations (feeding, sleeping, physical activities practice, resting and leisure); life impacts (physical and mental); Determinants involved in these new habits acquisition (socioeconomic, academic, family and affective and others). RESULTS: Feeding and sleeping were dimensions that presented most transitions. The most common physical impacts were headache, migraine, muscle ache, and worsening of previous conditions such as gastritis. Regarding mental impacts, the following symptoms were registered: tiredness, stress, demotivation, loneliness, helplessness feelings, isolation, thoughts about giving up, and aggravation in previous psyche suffering as depression and anxiety. The noun determinants related to these changes were the social, which include the students' socioeconomic conditions, followed by the educational elements that comprehend the academic environment. CONCLUSION: A university's academic daily life generates multiple routine changes in their students, compromising their health. Therefore, restructuring universities organizations is needed.