Abstract
Introduction: Obesity is a global serious public health issue. According to the World Health Organization, insufficient physical activity and increased sedentary behaviors are the leading causes of this condition.Objective: To compare the time that overweight/obese and normal-weight adolescents spend in daily activities according to sex and the type of school they attend.Materials and methods: Quantitative and analytical research. 106 Chilean teenagers were assessed to determine their nutrition diagnosis based on their weight, height, pubertal development (Tanner stages) and body mass index. A written survey was used to collect data on how they spend their time in different activities during a typical day on weekdays. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test, in which two non-parametric samples are compared.Results: Statistically significant differences regarding the distribution of the time that adolescents devote to engaging in social participation and leisure time activities were observed: overweight/obese teenagers spend less time in these activities.Conclusion: the way that adolescents use their time could be considered as a risk factor for obesity that requires a deeper analysis. Overweight and obese adolescents have a low participation rate in social participation and leisure activities. Undoubtedly, how time is spent is increasingly regarded as a well-being indicator; therefore, further research should focus on the effectiveness of interventions based on the modification of daily routines.
Highlights
Obesity is a global serious public health issue
These associated determinants are known as the obesogenic environment, a concept established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to define an environment that promotes a high caloric intake and a sedentary lifestyle [13], and which, for said definition, takes into account the availability, affordability, and accessibility to foods and how their consumption is promoted; the chances of doing physical activity, and the social norms on food consumption and physical activity
The distribution of time that adolescents spend in doing daily activities observed here is similar to what other studies have reported, [19,31,32] this could be explained by the fact that in industrialized countries the school day requires a lot of time
Summary
Obesity is a global serious public health issue. According to the World Health Organization, insufficient physical activity and increased sedentary behaviors are the leading causes of this condition.Introducción. [8,9] Regarding other associated factors, Orban et al [10] report that the family environment is associated with the development of these conditions, since it influences children and adolescents’ food intake habits and lifestyles, and Romero et al [11] and Azar et al [12] state that social determinants such as the neighborhood characteristics and the socioeconomic level are related to the occurrence of these disorders in this population These associated determinants are known as the obesogenic environment, a concept established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to define an environment that promotes a high caloric intake and a sedentary lifestyle [13], and which, for said definition, takes into account the availability, affordability, and accessibility to foods and how their consumption is promoted; the chances of doing physical activity, and the social norms on food consumption and physical activity. The ability of adolescents to engage in activities that imply energy expenditure and to organize their practice on a daily routine will enable them to reduce their risk of gaining weight
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