[Co-occurrence of risk factors to health among university students of a Brazilian tertiary education institution].

The co-occurrence of risk factors can lead to chronic noncommunicable diseases and even loss of life. The objectives of this study were to describe the prevalence and analyze sociodemographic characteristics linked to university life associated with the co-occurrence of risk factors among undergraduates. The study consisted of three cross-sectional surveys in 2010, 2012 and 2014 of undergraduates in Bahia, Brazil. The outcome of this study was the co-occurrence of two or more risk factors (lower levels of leisure-time physical activities, overweight/obesity, irregular consumption of fruits/vegetables and self-assessed lack of stress). The association among the variables was conducted by establishing the Prevalence Ratios. A total of 878, 879 and 877 undergraduates participated in the study in the years 2010, 2012 and 2014, respectively. In all three surveys, the prevalence of two or more risk factors was greater than 70%. The co-occurrence of two or more risk factors was associated with women, mature students, undergraduates from the health area and students with more years at university. The conclusion drawn was that the prevalence of two or more risk factors was high and that women were the group that presented higher prevalence of co-occurrence of risk factors in all surveys.