Abstract Introduction Declining physical activity among university students has become a concern, with increasingly poor dietary behaviors and other unfavorable factors having an impact on the occurrence of psychological symptoms. Previous studies have analyzed the association between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and psychological symptoms, but few studies have investigated the association between soy product consumption and these symptoms. In addition, the associations between physical activity and soy product consumption with psychological symptoms have not been investigated. Methods In this study, 7267 university students from different regions of China were surveyed regarding physical activity, soy product consumption, and psychological symptoms. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the associations among MVPA, soy product consumption, and psychological symptoms. A generalized linear model (GLM) was applied to further analyze the associations of MVPA and soy product consumption with psychological symptoms in this population. Results The detection rate of psychological symptoms among Chinese university students was 17.9%, with the rate among female students (18.9%) higher than that among male students (16.6%). The proportion of university students with MVPA 60 min/d was 76.1%, 19.3%, and 4.6%, respectively, and the proportion with soy product consumption ≤ 2 times/wk, 3–5 times/wk, and ≥ 5 times/wk was 25.8%, 42.4%, and 31.7%, respectively. The GLM showed that compared with university students who had MVPA 60 min/d and soy product consumption ≥ 6 times/week (OR = 0.198, 95% CI: 0.100–0.393, P 60 min/d and soy product consumption 3–5 times/week (OR = 0.221, 95% CI: 0.102–0.479, P
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