Abstract Body: It is well recognized that lifestyle habits are more critical during certain stages of life. For young adults, the transition to university appears to be one of these periods. Beginning university involves many changes for young adults. Several studies have described unhealthy student lifestyles with decreased physical activity and deterioration of eating habits. This lifestyle deterioration at the beginning of university has also been associated with weight gain which may impact cardiometabolic health. The purpose of the present study was to examine changes in physical activity, dietary intake and cardiometabolic risk factors in Canadian university students over the course of one academic year. Fifty university students (17 men and 33 women) from 18 to 27 years of age (21.0 ± 1.7 years for men and 20.2 ± 1.3 years for women) were selected to participate in this study. All measurements were performed at baseline and at the end of the academic year. Anthropometric parameters and metabolic risk variables were measured according to standardized procedures. Food intakes were assessed using a web-based food frequency questionnaire. Cardiorespiratory fitness capacity was estimated using the 20m shuttle run test. Over the university year, waist circumference significantly increased in both men (76.1 to 79.1 cm, p=0.0015) and women (69.6 to 71.8 cm, p=0.003) while body mass index was significantly increased only in men (22.5 to 23.1 kg/m², p=0.0024). Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) B levels significantly increased in men over the study period (p<0.0175). In women, apo B levels increased significantly, while total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio decreased (p<0.027). There were small but statistically insignificant changes in total caloric intake during the study. However, daily servings of fruits and vegetables significantly decreased over the study in both men (11.1 to 7.64 servings per day, p=0.0085) and women (8.31 to 5.71, p=0.0202). These decreases seem to be mainly attributable to reduced vegetable consumption (p<0.04). Lastly, we found that cardiorespiratory fitness did not change significantly over the study period. In conclusion, our results demonstrated deterioration in some cardiometabolic risk factors as well as in some eating habits during the academic year. Targeted interventions should be developed to help university students achieve or maintain a healthy lifestyle during this period.