Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania
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 per...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/22/11042 |
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| author | Dana-Teodora Anton-Păduraru Ioan Gotcă Veronica Mocanu Veronica Popescu Maria-Liliana Iliescu Egidia-Gabriela Miftode Vasile-Lucian Boiculese |
| author_facet | Dana-Teodora Anton-Păduraru Ioan Gotcă Veronica Mocanu Veronica Popescu Maria-Liliana Iliescu Egidia-Gabriela Miftode Vasile-Lucian Boiculese |
| author_sort | Dana-Teodora Anton-Păduraru |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:43:24Z |
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| id | doaj.art-a00cc7f338d7410aad74d84098053e42 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:43:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a00cc7f338d7410aad74d84098053e422023-11-22T22:22:48ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-11-0111221104210.3390/app112211042Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern RomaniaDana-Teodora Anton-Păduraru0Ioan Gotcă1Veronica Mocanu2Veronica Popescu3Maria-Liliana Iliescu4Egidia-Gabriela Miftode5Vasile-Lucian Boiculese6Department of Mother and Child Medicine, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, RomaniaDepartment of Morpho-Functional Sciences II, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, RomaniaDepartment of Morpho-Functional Sciences II, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, RomaniaFaculty of Physical Education and Sport, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, 700554 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Preventive Medicine and Interdisciplinarity, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, RomaniaDepartment of Medical Sciences II, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, RomaniaDepartment of Preventive Medicine and Interdisciplinarity, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, RomaniaThe 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/22/11042adolescenteating habitsperceived benefits of physical activityperceived body attractiveness |
| spellingShingle | Dana-Teodora Anton-Păduraru Ioan Gotcă Veronica Mocanu Veronica Popescu Maria-Liliana Iliescu Egidia-Gabriela Miftode Vasile-Lucian Boiculese Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania Applied Sciences adolescent eating habits perceived benefits of physical activity perceived body attractiveness |
| title | Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania |
| title_full | Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania |
| title_short | Assessment of Eating Habits and Perceived Benefits of Physical Activity and Body Attractiveness among Adolescents from Northeastern Romania |
| title_sort | assessment of eating habits and perceived benefits of physical activity and body attractiveness among adolescents from northeastern romania |
| topic | adolescent eating habits perceived benefits of physical activity perceived body attractiveness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/22/11042 |
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