Consumo de frutas, verduras y salud mental en estudiantes de ciencias de la salud, Lima-Perú

Introduction: Plant antioxidants have the ability to scavenge excess free radicals, inhibit lipid oxidation and reduce hydroperoxide formation, which could protect the body from oxidative stress. Objective: To identify the consumption of fruits, vegetables and their relationship with mental health in health science students. Methods: Cross-sectional, correlational study, carried out on 510 students from public and private universities of health sciences. The age of the students was 18 to 35 years old, 73.7% were women and 26.3% men. The questionnaire on the frequency of consumption of fruits and vegetables was validated by expert judgment that includes 23 fruits and 17 vegetables and to measure the level of mental health the questionnaire consists of 21 items that consider depression, anxiety and stress which was validated by Colchado et al. The association of the variables was analyzed through the Chi-square statistical test. Results: 60.4% and 6.9% presented a high and mild level of depression, anxiety and stress respectively. Females present greater depression, anxiety and stress than males (p=0.005). There is an association between mental health and the consumption of cocona (p=0.029), blueberries (p=0.005), watermelon (p=0.016) and banana (p=0.009). No association was found with vegetable consumption (p>0.05). Conclusion: There is a low consumption of fruits and vegetables in Health Sciences students, however, those who obtained a mild level of depression consumed more fruits such as blueberry, coconut, watermelon and banana. It is necessary to implement dissemination strategies for the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables which leads to improve or maintain physical and mental health.