ABSTRACT
Health is one of the constitutional rights of Brazilians, but it also represents one of the
greatest challenges for this country. Although it does not solve all the issues relating to a
nation development, health, along with education, is one of the main opportunities to reduce
social inequalities, violence, drug addiction and vulnerabilities. Despite the growth in
numbers of institutions and enrollments, higher education is still a challenge in the country.
The entrance to the university reveals a new world to college students, especially to the young
adults (20-24 years), because this is the mark of their independence. The adoption of an
unhealthy lifestyle in this period is a risk and can jeopardize their health and academic
performance, bringing about some difficulties later. In this context, the objective of this
dissertation was to analyze the lifestyle, environmental and learning conditions, and also
academic performance of physical education freshman and senior students. In order to reach
this goal, it was outlined an analytical cross-sectional study, carried out with 119 college
students of the Physical Education Course, at the State University of Ceará-UECE. Data were
collected through the questionnaire Health Indicators and Quality of Life of Academics (IsaqA) and the students' school records. As soon as they were collected, data were tabulated and
analyzed in the International Business Machines Statistics Package Social Science version
20.0 (IBM SPSS 20.0) statistical program. For descriptive analysis, it was calculated the
simple and relative frequencies of the study variables and central (mean and median) and
dispersion (standard deviation) tendency measures for the numerical variables; and later, for
bivariate statistics according to the situation in the course, statistical tests were performed.
Then, the analysis was performed with a hierarchical logistic regression model, the variables
were divided into three blocks: 1) sociodemographic variables; 2) lifestyle and; 3)
environmental and learning conditions. The outcome adopted was the student qualification
index (IQD). The study was approved by the Ethics Committee in Research of the University
of Integration Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB) number 1.582.378. The results showed
that in the bivariate analysis, the variables included in Block 1 were: age, work, weekly
working hours; Block 2: image perception, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference
(CA), nutritional status, frequency the student has lunch at the university cafeteria (RU) /per
week, marijuana use; and Block 3: noise and temperature conditions, growth and development
opportunities, opportunity to participate in activities, whether or not they have some sort of
scholarship. In the final regression model, the variables age and noise and temperature
conditions remained as the outcome predictors. After the multicollinearity test, the variable ‘meals had at the university cafeteria (RU)’ was taken out to fit the model better. It is
concluded that during academic life period, the lifestyle undergoes negative changes; students
have good environment and learning conditions. The variables age and noise and temperature
conditions of the classrooms are predictors of academic performance.
Keywords: Lifestyle. College students. Academic performance.
