Abstract
Attaining healthy behaviors is essential at any life stage, particularly childhood, due to the strong link between children’s lifestyle and the subsequent adult state of health. This multidisciplinary study aimed to assess lifestyle behaviors of Austrian pupils of secondary schools I and II, with a specific focus on PA habits and diet types based on a large sample. In total, 8845 children/adolescents participated in the short standardized online survey on relevant health-related aspects nationwide. Valid and complete data was provided by 8799 pupils, including 1.14% of the eligible 771,525; 63% girls, 76% having a normal body weight, 70% attending secondary schools II, and more pupils/students living in rural vs. urban areas (3:1 ratio). Across the total sample, 11.8% were considered overweight/obese with a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity in boys than girls (15.5% vs. 9.6%) and urban vs. rural participants (13.9% vs. 10.8%; p < 0.05). The majority of participants (84.5%) reported a mixed diet, while 7.2% and 8.5% reported a vegan and vegetarian diet, respectively. Vegans reported a lesser alcohol intake (p < 0.05) compared to non-vegan pupils (no difference in dietary subgroups for smoking). Although overall PA and dietary behaviors suggest an appropriate health status among Austrian youth, attention should be focused on policies to increase healthy lifestyle habits at best through a dual approach to health permanently combining regular PA, sports, and exercise with a healthy diet, which would contribute to matching the current recommendations for improving individual and public health.
Highlights
Health is an essential component of any individual’s life [1], which assumes higher importance at early ages [2]
Justify the need for this dual approach to decision-makers, which should be the minimum recommendation according to the Austrian state mandate; motivate policy and decision-makers in the educational context to reassess current health-related school offerings in order to build on or even create new programs, opportunities, and materials encompassing this dual approach for everyday school scenarios; establish health-oriented action competence and sustainable action readiness regarding improvements to the current and long-term health status of school pupils
It should be noted that two subsequent follow-up studies are already in plan and under design: (a) in order to map the interwoven prevalence of current dietary trends linked to levels of sports and exercise among pupils of secondary school levels I and II, we intend to transfer this study to different countries among European nations and/or
Summary
Health is an essential component of any individual’s life [1], which assumes higher importance at early ages [2]. There exists a strong chance of showing positive health status through adulthood if a person experienced a healthy lifestyle during childhood [3]. Children experiencing early health issues may drag them throughout their life and develop more serious diseases during adulthood [4]. A primary objective for researchers and practitioners from different fields is to monitor youth’s health status.
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