Introduction:

Dietary patterns significantly influence physical, mental, and emotional health, making them essential for promoting overall well- being. During university years, students often adopt less healthy eating habits, which can negatively impact their quality of life. Understanding this relationship is key to designing interventions that improve the overall health of this population.

Objective:

To evaluate the association between dietary patterns and quality of life in Latin American university students.

Materials and methods:

A multicenter study consisting of a cross-sectional. Research in university students from ten Latin American countries. 4539 university students aged 18 years and older from ten Latin American countries. An online questionnaire was used to collect the data. Multivariate regression analysis, adjusted for control variables.

Results:

Significant differences in quality-of-life scores were observed between the different types of diet. All diets, except the Western diet, were associated with a better quality of life. The vegan diet had the highest association with quality of life (OR: 4.71, 95%CI: 2.32; 9.55), followed by the pescatarian diet (OR: 2.68, 95%CI: 1.79; 4.02) and the prudent diet (OR: 2.14, 95%CI: 1.73; 2.64).

Conclusions:

Vegan, pescatarian, and prudent diets are associated with a better quality of life, especially in men and people over 26 years of age. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and better understand the mechanisms underlying these associations.