Combined healthy behaviors and cardiometabolic risk in university students: a biomarker-based cross-sectional study
Abstract
BackgroundUnfavorable lifestyle behaviors commonly cluster during university life, yet their combined association with continuous cardiometabolic risk (CMR) remains insufficiently characterized in university populations.ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between the accumulation of healthy behaviors and CMR in university students.MethodsA cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted among 307 students at a private university in Chiclayo, northern Peru. Five self-reported behaviors were assessed: regular breakfast consumption, physical activity ≥3 times/week, fruit intake ≥2 servings/day, vegetable intake ≥2 servings/day, and sleep duration of 7–9 h. A Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Index (0–100) was constructed by rescaling each of the five behaviors from 0 to 1. The component scores were averaged and multiplied by 100; a separate favorable behavior count (0–5) was also calculated. The CMR score integrated waist circumference (WC), mean arterial pressure, glucose, ln-triglycerides, and HDL-cholesterol, standardized by sex. Associations were estimated using linear regression models with HC3 robust standard errors and adjusted for sociodemographic variables.ResultsOverall, 25.7% of participants exhibited 0–1 favorable behaviors, 51.1% exhibited 2–3, and 23.1% exhibited 4–5. Each 10-point increase in the healthy behavior index was associated with a reduction of 0.127 standard deviations (SD) in the CMR score (β=−0.127; 95% CI: −0.179 to −0.075; p<0.001). Compared to the group with 4–5 behaviors, the groups with 2–3 and 0–1 behaviors had higher risk scores (β=0.267; 95% CI: 0.017 to 0.516; and β=0.682; 95% CI: 0.395 to 0.968, respectively).ConclusionA greater accumulation of healthy lifestyle behaviors was associated with a more favorable cardiometabolic profile in university students; given the cross-sectional design, these findings should not be interpreted causally.
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BibTeX
@article{saintila2026combined,
title = {{Combined healthy behaviors and cardiometabolic risk in university students: a biomarker-based cross-sectional study}},
author = {Jacksaint Saintila and Norma Del Carmen Gálvez-Díaz and Luz Antonia Barreto-Espinoza and Elmer Lopez-Lopez and Isabel G. Lizarraga-De-Maguiña and Giovanna Larraín-Távara and Fátima del Carmen Bernal-Corrales and Susan Míriam Oblitas-Guerrero},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980609},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980609},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Combined healthy behaviors and cardiometabolic risk in university students: a biomarker-based cross-sectional study
AU - Jacksaint Saintila
AU - Norma Del Carmen Gálvez-Díaz
AU - Luz Antonia Barreto-Espinoza
AU - Elmer Lopez-Lopez
AU - Isabel G. Lizarraga-De-Maguiña
AU - Giovanna Larraín-Távara
AU - Fátima del Carmen Bernal-Corrales
AU - Susan Míriam Oblitas-Guerrero
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/09
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980609
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980609
AB - BackgroundUnfavorable lifestyle behaviors commonly cluster during university life, yet their combined association with continuous cardiometabolic risk (CMR) remains insufficiently characterized in university populations.ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between the accumulation of healthy behaviors and CMR in university students.MethodsA cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted among 307 students at a private university in Chiclayo, northern Peru. Five self-reported behaviors were assessed: regular breakfast consumption, physical activity ≥3 times/week, fruit intake ≥2 servings/day, vegetable intake ≥2 servings/day, and sleep duration of 7–9 h. A Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Index (0–100) was constructed by rescaling each of the five behaviors from 0 to 1. The component scores were averaged and multiplied by 100; a separate favorable behavior count (0–5) was also calculated. The CMR score integrated waist circumference (WC), mean arterial pressure, glucose, ln-triglycerides, and HDL-cholesterol, standardized by sex. Associations were estimated using linear regression models with HC3 robust standard errors and adjusted for sociodemographic variables.ResultsOverall, 25.7% of participants exhibited 0–1 favorable behaviors, 51.1% exhibited 2–3, and 23.1% exhibited 4–5. Each 10-point increase in the healthy behavior index was associated with a reduction of 0.127 standard deviations (SD) in the CMR score (β=−0.127; 95% CI: −0.179 to −0.075; p<0.001). Compared to the group with 4–5 behaviors, the groups with 2–3 and 0–1 behaviors had higher risk scores (β=0.267; 95% CI: 0.017 to 0.516; and β=0.682; 95% CI: 0.395 to 0.968, respectively).ConclusionA greater accumulation of healthy lifestyle behaviors was associated with a more favorable cardiometabolic profile in university students; given the cross-sectional design, these findings should not be interpreted causally.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -