Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the quality of food and level of physical activity in obese adolescents from public (PuS) and private (PrS) schools of Fortaleza-CE. Methods: Cross-sectional study held with 272 adolescents from PuS and PrS in the period from April 2007 to May 2009. A questionnaire was applied containing identification (age, gender) and anthropometric (weight and height) data, school situation, feeding behavior and physical activity level. Results: It was observed that 160 (58.8%) of the adolescents were female with a mean age of 16.5 years (± 1.31). There was prevalence of moderate obesity, with 85.5% (n=171) in PuS and 76.4% (n=55) in PrS. No difference was found between the obesity degree and the school network. Regarding feeding behavior, 70.2% (n=190) consumed less than five meals a day and 56.3% (n=153) had no breakfast, without differences between the school networks. The consumption of fruits (10%, n=27) and vegetables (14.1%, n=38) was low. Students of PrS consumed more soft drinks (41.7%, n=30) than those of the PuS (28.5%, n=57, p=0.03). Among students of the PuS and PrS, those who did not consume fast food represented 47% (n=93) and 32.4% (n=27), respectively (p=0.02). It was identified that the PuS adolescents were more active than those of PrS (77%, n=153 versus 54.2%, n=40; p=0.0002), but this difference was not associated with the degree of obesity (p=0.88). Conclusion: The adolescents of both the PuS and PrS had inadequate feeding behavior, with little differences between them. The adolescents of the PuS were more active than the ones of PrS, although this level of physical activity did not influence the obesity degree. doi:10.5020/18061230.2014.p92
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