Nutritional status, body composition and eating behavior of first year students of the “Alejandro Navarrete Cisterna” Naval School in Talcahuano, Chile

Abstract

Introduction: Nutritional status, body composition and eating habits are relevant for eligibility, training, and naval career progression, due to the influence of these factors have on the physical and mental health and sports performance of recruits. Objective: To describe and evaluate the nutritional status, body composition and eating behavior of first-year students of the “Alejandro Navarrete Cisterna” Naval School in Talcahuano. Methods: Non-experimental cross-sectional study of 781 recruits. Anthropometric and body composition evaluation was carried out by trained nutritionists, and the self-report Eating Habits Survey was applied. Results: Age 19.2 ± 1.47 years, 35.7% women. According to nutritional status, a higher percentage of overweight and obesity was observed in women compared to men. BMI was related to body composition; women had a mean BMI of overweight with a higher percentage of body fat and a lower percentage of muscle mass. Eating behavior was significantly related to nutritional status, with compliance of: dairy consumption, legume consumption, daily dinner and non-consumption of alcoholic beverages being higher in normal weight recruits than in those with overweight and obesity. Conclusion: The naval recruits had a higher normal weight, less obesity and better eating behavior than the general population, possibly due to the physical and nutritional preparation in the initial period of naval training.