Background: Nursing students are exposed to concepts of healthy lifestyles while they are attending university.
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze whether nursing students have a healthier lifestyle than non-nursing students and to determine whether their behaviour is consistent with their beliefs.
Methods: A cross-sectional study, with 293 university students was performed by using a validated questionnaire to measure beliefs and behaviour regarding health.
Results: The lifestyle pattern of the nursing students evaluated was characterised by a high percentage of nurses with low levels of physical activity, poor balanced diet and smoking habits. The comparative analysis showed no significant differences between nursing students and students from other degrees.
Conclusions: Students have a positive attitude and knowledge about healthy lifestyle, but do not transfer it to their own lives. Nurses' lifestyle can unintentionally affect the behaviour of other people through their own behaviour and beliefs because they serve as a model for a healthy lifestyle. These findings support that nurse educators have an active role as promoter of health by using lessons to modify the behaviour of their students.
Keywords: health behaviour; health promotion; healthy habits; lifestyle; nursing students; university students.