Impact of alcohol consumption and diet on quality of life in higher education. A structural equation model.

Alcohol consumption among Spanish undergraduates during their university time has increased exponentially in recent years. In addition, this lifestyle change is associated with abandoning the Mediterranean diet, increasing the risk of suffering some kind of injury and affecting their quality of life. The study was carried out with a sample of 1,057 Spanish university students, 12.1% (n = 127) of them women and 87.9% (n= 930) men. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to measure health-related quality of life, the MEDAS test to check adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and the AUDIT test to measure alcohol consumption. The results show an inverse relationship between injury and quality of life (β= -0.020) and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (β= -0.042) among students who have suffered some kind of injury. On the other hand, there was a positive relationship with alcohol consumption (β= -0.046). The main conclusion is that lower alcohol consumption and higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a better quality of life and a reduced risk of injury in undergraduates in southern Spain.