Abstract

Author(s): Cardozo, Luis Alberto1; Cuervo Guzman, Yamir Andrés2; Murcia Torres, Julio Alejandro2

Introduction: A high percentage of body fat it is consider a risk factor that triggers multiple chronic diseases threatening acute disease mainly o chronic (coronary heart disease, arterial hipertension, mellitus diabetes, etc.).

Objective: Determining the percentage of body fat and prevalence of overweight - obesity, understood as an indicator of health risk, in college students in sports performance from Bogotá, Colombia.

Materials and methods: Cross – sectional study in a sample of n=82 students with ages from 18 to 31 years, belonging to the program sports performance, who they were made measurements of weight, height, percentage of body fat through bioelectrical impedance and determination of body mass index (BMI).

Results: Of the population evaluated mean age was found in men of 20,7 ± 2,3 years vs. 21,9 ± 1,3 years in woman mean BMI in men was of 22,7 ± 2,9 vs. 23,1 ± 2,7 in woman, without significant differences p=NS bewteen gender. The average height for men was 1,72 ± ,05m vs. women of 1,59 ± ,04m and the mean percentage body fat was in men 16,4 ± 4,2% vs. women 25,0 ± 6,7%, significative differences p=0,029, between gender. It was found the prevalence of overweight and obesity in men 20.9% and women 46.67%.

Conclusions: A high percentage of body fat it is associated with several risk factors. Their identification in university students could bring benefits in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.