Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania
Source abstract
Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to present the results of the evaluation of 1320 adolescents from 4 high schools in Iaşi, Romania regarding their eating habits and perceived benefits of physical activity and body attractiveness after they completed an anonymous questionnaire. The data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 18. The analysis of the nutritional status showed that over 70% of adolescents were of a normal weight. Most of them (63.56%) consumed 3–4 meals/day, with breakfast being the most skipped meal (60.53%). Compared with the boys, the girls consumed fewer whole grains, dairy products, and meat, but the girls consumed fruits and vegetables in approximately the same percentage. The adolescents studied consumed more fruits than vegetables, but the servings of fruits and vegetables consumed were not sufficient in the diets of many adolescents (39.31%). Among the adolescents, 5.68% consumed at least 2 alcoholic drinks daily, and 37.87% consumed caffeine products one or more times per week. Among the boys, 95.20% practiced regular physical activity, and 97.20% of the girls considered that the right nutrition plays a role in the prevention of obesity. The study of the self-perception profile showed that 89.8% of boys and 79.5% of girls considered that they had attractive bodies. According to the BMI, 86.7% of normal-weight adolescents and 84.8% of underweight adolescents considered themselves as having attractive bodies, while this was only considered by 73.5% of overweight and 56.7% of obese adolescents. It is necessary to introduce nutritional education in schools for the improvement of eating habits in children and adolescents. More studies are needed to appreciate the social behaviors (e.g., food intake, physical activity, and recreation time) and then develop interventions and national health programs to promote a healthy lifestyle, particularly healthy eating habits.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Nutritional Studies and Diet · Eating Disorders and Behaviors
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Mother and Child Medicine, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
Department of Morpho-Functional Sciences II, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, 700554 Iași, Romania
Department of Preventive Medicine and Interdisciplinarity, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
Department of Medical Sciences II, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
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