Body mass index and eating habits of secondary schoolchildren in Indjija

Abstract

Mistakes in diet of adolescents go in the direction of dietary excesses and deficits. The aim of the study was to determine the dietary habits of adolescents and the impact of schoolwork on the quality of nutrition among adolescent population, and calculating body mass index (BMI) in the examined adolescents in order to assess obesity. The research was designed as a cross sectional study conducted in 2013/14 school year among secondary school adolescents in Inđija during the performance of preventive examinations. The study involved 189 adolescents, 114 girls (60.3%) and 75 boys (39.7%). The average age of adolescents was 16.1. The largest number of female respondents and male respondents had the BMI within the normal. The number of boys with BMI > 2SD was significantly higher than in girls, χ²=5.328, p<0.05. Half of male adolescents and only a third of adolescent girls used to have three main meals and two snacks. A regular breakfast had 60% of respondents, while 3.70% did not have breakfast. The percentage of male respondents who had lunch at 'fast food' places five or more days a weak rose from 12%, when attending morning classes, to 18%, when attending afternoon classes, while in the female respondents it was 4.38% in the morning up to 14.03% in the afternoon. Most adolescents in Inđija have a normal body mass index. The number of pre-obese and overweight is small, but significantly more common in boys. The afternoon attendance affects the regularity of meals, i.e. schoolchildren do not have lunch or they eat food of low nutritional value. Fruit, vegetables, fish, whole grains is poorly presented in the diet of adolescents. Regular eating patterns are acquired from the early childhood and heavily influenced by family, peers, school and the environment in which children and adolescents grow up.