Weight status, dietary intake, physical activity, and subjective social status of adolescents in grades 7–12 participating in a national creative competition

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine if dietary intake (DI), physical activity (PA), and school and family subjective social status (SSS) differed based on weight status (WS).Methods2,438 students in grades 7–12, who were surveyed and measured at a national creative competition, met study criteria and were included in the analysis. BMI was calculated using standard protocol. DI, PA and SSS data were collected via surveys.Results74.3% of participants were normal weight, 15.3% were overweight, and 10.4% were obese. 55.7% of respondents reported participating in ≥60 minutes of PA/day, 86.9% reported viewing <3 hours of TV/day, 20.5% reported consuming ≥3 dairy products/day, and 33.0% reported consuming ≥5 fruits and vegetables/day. There were no differences in DI by WS, but there were significant differences in PA measurements (p≤.001). Perceived family SSS was significantly higher for normal weight students compared to overweight and obese students (p=.019 and p≤ .001, respectively) and school SSS was significantly higher for normal weight students compared to obese students (p=.005).ConclusionThe prevalence of overweight and obesity was lower among this sample than current rates estimated in the US. Although the majority of these students met PA guidelines, DI recommendations were not met by most. Similar to previous research about SSS and WS, normal weight students had higher perceived SSS than did obese students.