Unhealthy Dietary Habits Research Articles

Prevalence of childhood obesity, its associated risk factors and parental misperception of their child’s actual weight among Saudi children in Yanbu city, Saudi Arabia 2021: A cross-sectional study

Aim of Study: To determine prevalence of childhood obesity among attendants of primary health care centers, its associated risk factors, and to identify parental misperceptions regarding their children’s actual weight. Methods: Following a cross-sectional study design, at primary health care centers (PHCC) in Yanbu Albahr City, Saudi Arabia, the study sample included 80 parents of Saudi healthy -school children aged 6 to 12 years. The study questionnaire included sociodemographic data of children and their parents, anthropometric data of children, the 1st section of the Arabic version of Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ), the child’s lifestyle behavior assessment and parent’s perception regarding their child’s weight. Results: Prevalence of overweight among children was 5%, while 13.8% were obese. Fast foods, sweets and soft drinks were commonly consumed by children, while 36.3% did not practice any sports. Children’s BMI grades did not differ significantly according to their or their parents’ sociodemographic factors, or their dietary habits, but differed according to their parents’ educational level (p=0.038), with highest prevalence of obesity among less educated parents. Only 7.5% of parents perceived their children as overweight, while 1.3% perceived their children as obese. Parents’ perception regarding their children’s weight did not differ according to how they judge their weight, the way they weigh their weight or their source of information about their children’s weight. Most parents (56.3%) incorrectly perceived their children’s weight. Conclusions: Prevalence of obesity among primary school children in Yanbu Albahr City is high. Unhealthy dietary habits, and physical inactivity are common among Saudi children. Most parents misperceive their children’s actual body weight. Children’s BMI grades differ significantly according to their parents’ educational level, with highest prevalence of obesity among less educated parents. Key Words: Childhood obesity, risk factors, dietary habits, physical activity, parents’ perception about children’s weight, Saudi Arabia.

Clinical presentation, risk factors, and coronary angiographic profile of very young adults (≤30 years) presenting with first acute myocardial infarction at a tertiary care center in Rajasthan, India

Introduction: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in very young adults with age ≤30 years is rare. In India, the prevalence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in this population is <2%. ACS leads to significant effects on patient's psychology, morbidity, and increased financial burden when it occurs at this young age. Young patients with ACS on coronary angiography (CAG) show a relatively increased incidence of single-vessel disease and nonobstructive stenosis. Materials and Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted at the Department of Cardiology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The medical records of very young adults (≤30 years of age) with first AMI between September 2019 to August 2021 were collected and analyzed. Results: Twenty-two very young adult patients aged ≤30 years were admitted with first AMI. Most of the patients were within the age group of 25–30 years. Mean patient age was 27.63 ± 2.03 years and 21 patients (95.4%) were men. Regarding the risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD), smoking was the most common (54.5%) in young patients. Dyslipidemia and family history of premature CAD were present in 8 (36.3%) and 6 (27.2%) of patients. The most common symptom in patients was chest pain (90.9%). Obstructive CAD (vessel lumen stenosis ≥ 70%) was found in 18 (81.8%) patients. Conclusion: Very young adults presented with less extensive CAD as compared to elderly likely due to less atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries in them. The major modifiable risk factors in very young Indian population are smoking and dyslipidemia. Primary prevention by educating the public about the effects of smoking, unhealthy dietary habits, and sedentary lifestyle in early years of life may help to prevent the development of cardiac problems later in life.

Effect of Gluten-Free Diets on Nutritional Status in celiac patients: a systematic review

Introduction: Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease of the small intestine in which ingestion of gluten leads to destruction of intestinal areas in affected patients. Lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) is the only possible treatment for CD. It is less evident in adults considering the nutrient status in patients on GFD. Therefore, the aim of the study is to systematically evaluate the effect of GFD on the nutritional status of celiac patients. Methodology: A comprehensive electronic search with time and language restrictions was done. Several known databases were included: “Google Scholar, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science” from 2000 to 2022. Keywords used included “celiac disease”, “nutrient status”, “gluten-free diet”, “nutritional deficiencies”, “dietary deficiencies”, “nutrient intake”, “micronutrient”, “macronutrient”, “vitamin”, “mineral”, “fiber intake”, “Protein intake”, and “Fat intake” Results: The electronic search strategy conducted in this review ended in 875 hits which after removing duplications reduced to 360 studies. These 360 studies were considered eligible for further evaluation, from which 346 studies were excluded for different reasons as 216 studies were based on title and abstract, 86 studies were not relevant to the subject of this study or of this review, 17 were considered replies of authors, 2 were books, and 27 were reviews. Finally , 12 articles were included in the qualitative synthesis of the present review. Conclusion: The current review showed that gluten free diet is associated with unbalanced intake of macro and micronutrients in both, celiac women and men mainly because of the unhealthy dietary habits and difficulty eliminating gluten from the diet which leads to low cereal intake and high consumption of processed gluten free products. Keywords: Gluten free diet, nutritional status, celiac disease, Saudi Arabia

The Exploration of the Food Education Program in Primary and Secondary Schools

Nowadays, unhealthy dietary habits, insufficient food knowledge, and lack of manual skills are typical issues among primary and secondary school students in China. To help students build up a strong constitution and life wisdom, Weifang Hansheng School of Shandong developed a food education course. This paper expounds on the course framework, contents of food education textbooks and the measures to implement the course.

The Exploration of the Food Education Program in Primary and Secondary Schools

Nowadays, unhealthy dietary habits, insufficient food knowledge, and lack of manual skills are typical issues among primary and secondary school students in China. To help students build up a strong constitution and life wisdom, Weifang Hansheng School of Shandong developed a food education course. This paper expounds on the course framework, contents of food education textbooks and the measures to implement the course.

COMPARISON OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF DOCTORS IN SERVICES HOSPITALS WITH THAT OF EQUIVALENT SOCIAL STRATA IN RELATION TO THEIR EATING HABITS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Objective: To compare the nutritional status of doctors and non-doctors in relation to their eating habits and physical activity
 Study Design: Cross sectional study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital/Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from Sep 2018 to Mar 2019.
 Methodology: Anthropometric measurements like weight for age, height for age, weight according to height along with BMI were used as indicators of nutritional status. Data collection tool was built upon food frequency questionnaire and comprised of sociodemographic variables followed by major portions related to general health of respondents, nutritional assessment, dietary patterns and physical activity.
 Results: Out of 200 respondents, 100 were physicians working in services hospitals of Army while rest hundred were serving officers non-doctors of similar social status. Mean age of the participants was 35.00 ± 7.57 years. There was no significant difference between self-perceived health status of both groups (p>0.05). Dietary habits of physicians were significantly healthy as compared to their counterparts (p=0.01) while physical activity patterns were better amongst non-doctors (p=0.001). Physicians had unhealthy dietary habits, but intake was bit less and cautious as compared to their counterpart group.
 Conclusion: Doctors have better dietary patterns, but worse physical activity practices as compared to individuals with similar social strata. Risk factors and nutritional indicators were not different for both groups.

EVENING CHRONOTYPE AS A RISK FACTOR FOR UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL JETLAG

Рreference for later bedtimes and rise times characterize evening chronotypes. Evening chronotypes suffer from early work start times thereby contradicting their circadian rhythms, as a result, a late wake-up time on free days reflect an attempt to compensate for a sleep debt accumulated on work days. This leads to a misalignment in sleep timing between weekdays and weekends, known as social jetlag (SJL), which is associated with increased health risk. Here we analyze the risks that evening preferences related with SJL bear and their potential impact on health, and also talk about possible correction measures, primarily of a behavioral nature, using literature data from PubMed and Embase database. Evening chronotype can compromise the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. Evening chronotypes are more prone to bedtime screen use, which can suppress melatonin rise and extend wakefulness activities far into the night, thus dragging sleep and meal timing to later periods. Preference towards later time-of-day is linked with higher intake of total calories and fats, as well as unhealthy dietary habits (breakfast skipping, snacking, longer eating duration). Evening chronotype also has been associated with high caffeinated drinks intake, alcohol consumption and smoking, low physical activities. It has been found that unhealthy behavior might function as the promoting factors to circadian misalignment and greater SJL. Interventions to prevent and control unhealthy behaviors among evening types should be included in preventive measures of SJL.

Factors Associated with Self-Efficacy Toward Healthy Eating and Physical Activity among Kuwaiti Adolescent Girls

Factors that influence adolescents’ health-related behaviors in Kuwait are unclear. We hypothesized that self-efficacy would be negatively associated with a heavier weight status and positively associated with healthy eating-related behaviors. We aimed to measure healthy eating-related parameters in a sample of Kuwaiti girls and to assess the correlates of self-efficacy. The participants of this cross-sectional study were adolescent schoolgirls. The main outcome measures were self-efficacy, dietary habits, dietary beliefs, nutrition knowledge, physical activity, and weight status per body mass index (BMI) categories. Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed to determine the associations among the healthy behavior-related parameter scores. Independent samples t-test was used to examine the differences in scores between participants’ characteristics and self-efficacy score (SES). Only 19.9% of the participants had high self-efficacy toward healthy eating behaviors, 20.9% had “satisfactory eating habits,” 11.3% had a good comprehension of the meanings of healthy and unhealthy dietary habits and food, 16.3% had good nutrition knowledge, and 29.2% had an active lifestyle. SES is associated negatively with BMI, and positively with all the domains of healthy eating and with physical activity. However, SES was not associated with nutritional knowledge. Adolescent girls in Kuwait demonstrated a high level of self-efficacy toward healthy eating and behaviors with firm nutritional beliefs; however, they failed to practice them. Interventional school nutrition programs could help to improve healthy behaviors among adolescents.

Prospective Association of Maternal Educational Level with Child's Physical Activity, Screen Time, and Diet Quality.

Evidence has identified unhealthy lifestyle behaviors as the main contributors to obesity in children, so it is essential to identify factors that could influence children’s lifestyles. The objective of the present study was to analyze the association of baseline maternal educational level with child’s physical activity, screen time, and dietary habits at follow-up. This community-based cohort study was carried out between 2012 and 2014 and included 1405 children aged 8 to 10 years old. Maternal educational level was used as an indicator of child’s socioeconomic status. Physical activity, screen time, and dietary habits were assessed by validated questionnaires. The odds of having commercially baked goods for breakfast [OR 1.47 (95% CI 1.03 to 2.10)], going more than once a week to a fast-food restaurant [OR 1.64 (95% CI 1.20 to 2.26)], and taking sweets and candys several times a day [OR 3.23 (95% CI 2.14 to 4.87) were significantly higher among children whose mothers had a lower educational level compared to their peers whose mothers had a higher level. These associations held for taking sweets and candy several times a day after additional adjustment for the corresponding dietary behavior at baseline. Maternal educational level was inversely associated (p < 0.001) with child’s screen time at follow up and being in the lowest maternal educational category was associated with an increased odds of surpassing the maximum recommended time of screen time of 120 min per day (OR (95% CI) 1.43 (1.07 to 1.90), p = 0.016). Maternal education is a predictor for unhealthy dietary habits and high screen time in children.

Cost variation analysis of commonly prescribed anti-diabetic drugs available in Indian market: a pharmaco-economic study

Cost variation analysis of commonly prescribed anti-diabetic drugs available in Indian market: a pharmaco-economic study

Effect of Dietary Habits on Mental and Physical Health: A Systemic Review

Mental and physical health issues have increased over the past few decades. Individual’s lifestyle, environment, dietary habits, physical and mental fitness are associated with each other. Generally, youngsters adopt unhealthy dietary habits, such as poor diet, little or no milk intake, meal skipping, preference for energy dense over nutrient dense diet, and inadequate intake of vegetables and fruits. During their university life, students face many changes including poor dietary choices, study stress, anxiety, depression, food insecurity, skipping meals, poor fruit and milk consumption. All of this may lead to many chronic diseases later in life. Processed food causes a lot of health issues. Individuals are more susceptible to irritable bowel syndrome, liver disorders, and amenorrhea due to unhealthy dietary consumption. For this reason, moderation in diet is necessary. A well-balanced nutritious diet consists of five food groups including whole-grains, milk, fruits and vegetables, meat and nuts, and oil which lower disease risk and increase the lifespan. Body size idealism is also the lead cause of eating disorder, especially among teenage girls. The objective of this study was to overview the association of dietary habits with the physical and mental health of people by analyzing the findings of previously published literature. Poor dietary choices and habits lead to poor physical health, classroom performance, and memory retention. It also leads to psychological issues, such as anxiety and depression.

LOW WEIGHT GAIN, BETTER GLYCAEMIA AND NO CENTRAL OBESITY ACHIEVED THROUGH A HIGH-PROTEIN DIET

A compendium of metabolic diseases associated with unhealthy habits plague the modern world today. Weight gain, hyperglycemia and excess adiposity are some of the metabolic diseases plaguing our modern society. Unhealthy dietary habits coupled with a sedentary lifestyle are recognized as important factors for the development of some metabolic illnesses. Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were recognized as stemming from metabolic dysregulation due to the consumption of excess calories from certain macronutrients. Our objective in this study is to find out which diet most affects circulating blood glucose levels, body weight, and visceral fat tissue deposition. 35 male Sprague - Dawley rats were separated into five groups and were given five distinct diets for the duration of 8 weeks. The five diets are normal rat feed, high-fat, high-protein, high-sugar, and high-starch. The feeding provided was ad libitum with tap water given as drinking water. Every week, each rat was weighed, and blood were sampled for glucose. Post-sacrifice, mesenteric fat was harvested, fixed, and stained for histological analysis. The results revealed a high-protein diet significantly reduces body weight gain, improved blood sugar with no development of central obesity. At the same time, a high-fat diet was shown to be a promoter of mesenteric fat tissue hypertrophy. It was concluded that the consumption of a high-protein diet was found to achieve low weight gain, better glycaemia with no central obesity.

A Comprehensive Survey of Image-Based Food Recognition and Volume Estimation Methods for Dietary Assessment.

Dietary studies showed that dietary problems such as obesity are associated with other chronic diseases, including hypertension, irregular blood sugar levels, and increased risk of heart attacks. The primary cause of these problems is poor lifestyle choices and unhealthy dietary habits, which are manageable using interactive mHealth apps. However, traditional dietary monitoring systems using manual food logging suffer from imprecision, underreporting, time consumption, and low adherence. Recent dietary monitoring systems tackle these challenges by automatic assessment of dietary intake through machine learning methods. This survey discusses the best-performing methodologies that have been developed so far for automatic food recognition and volume estimation. Firstly, the paper presented the rationale of visual-based methods for food recognition. Then, the core of the study is the presentation, discussion, and evaluation of these methods based on popular food image databases. In this context, this study discusses the mobile applications that are implementing these methods for automatic food logging. Our findings indicate that around 66.7% of surveyed studies use visual features from deep neural networks for food recognition. Similarly, all surveyed studies employed a variant of convolutional neural networks (CNN) for ingredient recognition due to recent research interest. Finally, this survey ends with a discussion of potential applications of food image analysis, existing research gaps, and open issues of this research area. Learning from unlabeled image datasets in an unsupervised manner, catastrophic forgetting during continual learning, and improving model transparency using explainable AI are potential areas of interest for future studies.

DIETARY HABITS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG YOUTH IN DUHOK, IRAQ

Background: Unhealthy dietary habit and physical inactivity are associated with higher risks for chronic morbidity and premature mortality. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and types of dietary habits and physical activity among youths in Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Association between added sugar intake and overall diet quality in the Finnish adult population.

Added sugar intake has been associated with several health issues, but few studies have examined its association with overall diet quality. We aimed at examining the association between added sugar intake and overall diet quality in Finnish adults. Associations between added sugar intake and sociodemographic factors, lifestyle factors, and BMI were also explored. Our data comprised 5094 adults residing in Finland who participated in the National FinHealth 2017 Study. Dietary intake was assessed by a validated FFQ. Food consumption and nutrient intakes were calculated using the Finnish national food composition database. Added sugar intake was estimated based on food categorisation and identifying naturally occurring sugar sources. Overall diet quality was assessed by the modified Baltic Sea Diet Score. The average added sugar intake was 7·6 E % in women and 8·3 E % in men in this study population. Added sugar intake was inversely associated with education (P = 0·03 women; P = 0·001 men), physical activity (P < 0·0001), and BMI in men (P = 0·003), and directly with smoking (P = 0·002 women; P < 0·0001 men). Added sugar intake was inversely associated with overall diet quality in both sexes (P < 0·0001). No interactions were found except for men's physical activity subgroups, the inverse association being stronger among active men than moderately active or inactive men (Pfor interaction = 0·005). Our findings suggest that high added sugar intake is associated with several unhealthy dietary and lifestyle habits, including poor-quality diets, smoking and leisure-time inactivity in Finnish adults. Efforts to improve diet quality should consider added sugar intake equally in the whole population.

The CENTS program: promoting healthy eating by addressing perceived barriers

Objective Nutrition interventions addressing barriers to healthy eating can mitigate concerns regarding poor diet and obesity among college students. Aimed at reducing healthy eating perceived barriers, this investigation employed two mindset change intervention studies. Design First, a nutrition improvement program called CENTS (Cost of Eating Nutritiously during Time as a Student) that disseminated specific information and utilized experiential activities for mindset change was developed and pilot tested using a pre/post study design. Second, using a similar pre/post method, the CENTS program was evaluated in a quasi-experimental design. Main Outcome Measures We examined perceived barriers to healthy eating (e.g. too costly, too much time), fruit and vegetable consumption, and other variables related to healthy eating (e.g. cost estimates, diet attitudes, self-efficacy, sugary foods consumption). Results Results demonstrated some improvement in many outcomes between the two studies. Most noteworthy, the two major perceived barriers of healthy eating (i.e. too expensive, too much time to prepare) dramatically reduced and cost appraisal accuracy improved. Moreover, some attitudes to eat healthy improved and some unhealthy dietary behaviors reduced. Conclusion Using mindset change techniques to address perceived barriers to healthy eating, interventions can promote healthy eating and discourage unhealthy dietary habits among college students.

Association between Skipping Breakfast and Overweight in Korean Adolescents: Analysis of the 13th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey

In Korea, skipping breakfast is of concern as an unhealthy dietary habit. While the relationship between skipping breakfast and overweight and obesity has been established in children and adolescents in Europe, studies on this topic in Korean adolescents are scarce. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and skipping breakfast in Korean adolescents. Data from the 13th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2017) were analyzed. This anonymous, self-administered online questionnaire examined health behaviors including smoking, drinking, obesity, eating habits, sleep duration, and physical activity in Korean youth. Questions included those on general characteristics, such as economic status, parental education level, etc. This study included data from 56,933 adolescents aged 12–18 years. Skipping breakfast was defined as consuming breakfast fewer than five times per week. BMI, health behaviors, and general characteristics were compared between the breakfast-skipping and control groups. The skipping-breakfast and control groups comprised 25,836 (45.4%) and 31,097 (54.6%) subjects, respectively. BMI was significantly higher in the breakfast-skipping group than that in the control group (21.6 ± 3.24 kg/m2 vs. 21.4 ± 3.26 kg/m2, p < 0.001). Among the normal-weight and overweight groups, 44.9% and 47.3% skipped breakfast, respectively (p < 0.001). After adjusting for health behaviors and general characteristics, the risk of overweight was higher in those who skipped breakfast than that in the control group (odds ratio; 1.125, 95% confidence interval; 1.077–1.176). Skipping breakfast was related to overweight in Korean adolescents. Therefore, longitudinal research is needed to determine whether skipping breakfast is associated with overweight. Keywords: Adolescent, Body mass index, Overweight, Skipping breakfast

The Effects of Different Exercise Modalities in the Treatment of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Obese Adolescents with Sedentary Behavior—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Purpose: Obesity has become increasingly prevalent in adolescents due to unhealthy diet habits, sedentary behavior and a lack of physical activities. This study aims to assess the effects of different exercise modalities in the treatment of cardiometabolic risk factors (CRF) in obese adolescents with sedentary behavior. Methods: A systematic search was conducted using databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, Web of Science, CNKI and VIP database) from the earliest available date to August 2021. Nineteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 704 participants were included. The included studies were evaluated for methodological quality by the Cochrane bias risk assessment tool, and a statistical analysis was performed by the Review Manage 5.3 and Stata 15.1 software. Results: The results of the meta-analysis showed that exercise could significantly improve obese adolescents’ body mass index (BMI) (MD = −1.99, 95% CI: −2.81 to −1.17, p < 0.00001), low density liptein cholesterol (LDL-C) (SMD = −0.98, 95% CI: −1.58 to −0.37, p = 0.002), triglyceride (TG) (SMD = −0.93, 95% CI: −1.72 to −0.14, p = 0.02), total cholesterol (TC) (SMD = −1.00, 95% CI: −1.73 to −0.26, p = 0.008), peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) (MD = 3.27, 95% CI: 1.52 to 5.02, p = 0.0003) and homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (SMD = −2.07, 95% CI: −3.3 to −0.84, p = 0.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference in high-density liptein cholesterol (HDL-C) (SMD = 0.40, 95% CI: −0.28 to 1.08, p = 0.25). Conclusion: Exercise can effectively improve cardiometabolic risk factors in obese adolescents with sedentary behavior. For obese adolescents who want to lose weight and improve cardiorespiratory fitness, combined aerobic and resistance training and high-intensity interval training are optimal choices. For obese adolescents with high blood lipids, aerobic training can be regarded as a primary exercise modality to reduce the high risk of cardiovascular diseases; For obese adolescents with insulin resistance, combined aerobic and resistance training can be considered to reduce the high risk of diabetes. It is hoped that more high-quality studies will further expand the meta-analysis results and demonstrate the optimal exercise frequency and treatment intensity of cardiometabolic risk factors in obese adolescents with sedentary behavior in the future.

An oriented antibody immobilization based electrochemical platform for detection of leptin in human with different body mass index

Obesity diseases have drawn our attention attributing to unhealthy dietary habit. Leptin, as a peptide hormone produced primarily in adipose tissue, is a biomarker associated with obesity diseases. Here, we presented an electrochemical biosensor used reduced graphene oxide-gold nanomaterials (rGO-Au) to modify the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and bionanocapsule-ZZ (ZZ-BNC) to vertically orient the antibody for detection of leptin. The linear correction curves of leptin concentration ranged from 0.001 to 1000 pg/mL with a low detection limit (0.00087 pg/mL). Compared with reported leptin sensors, the biosensor displayed low detection limit, higher selectivity and anti-interference. Notably, our biosensor enabled to detect the leptin in diet-induced obese mouse model with a good agreement of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The distinct detection results also showed in human with different body mass index (BMI) using the biosensor. Therefore, our study demonstrated that the oriented antibody immobilization based electrochemical biosensor is an effective platform for detection of leptin in actual samples and may have broad applications in assessment of obesity diseases.

Association of Club Sports Participation and TV in the Bedroom with Dietary Pattern in Austrian Adolescents

Poor lifestyle choices in adolescents, including low physical activity (PA), excess screen time, and unhealthy dietary habits, are major threats to their health in the future. Unhealthy behaviors such as insufficient PA, high TV time, and poor dietary choices also tend to cluster, but information on the combined association of screen time, sports participation, and dietary habits is limited in Austrian youth. To examine the association among these behaviors, 165 adolescents (74 girls and 91 boys) between 11 and 14 years of age completed a food frequency questionnaire during regular class hours. Additionally, participants reported whether they participated in club sports and whether they had a TV in the bedroom. The results showed that there were no interaction effects of club sports participation and TV in the bedroom on dietary habits. There were also no significant associations between participation in club sports and dietary habits. Having a TV in the bedroom, however, was associated with more frequent consumption of fast food and soft drinks. These results highlight the detrimental effects of unsupervised access to a TV on dietary habits in youth. As many lifestyle habits are established during adolescence and retained in adulthood, this age is important to develop a healthy lifestyle. Although club sports provide a viable setting to promote health, the results of this study indicate that the potential of club sports to educate children on nutrition is underused.