Estado nutricional, actividad física y hábitos alimenticios en estudiantes de la Escuela Ezequiel Cárdenas, Cantón Cañar, 2016

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A sedentary life and the consumption of junk food, sugary drinks and other candies make that boys, girls and teens of the country have health problems, developing metabolic diseases increasingly earlier.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the nutritional status, physical activity and feeding habits of the students of the Ezequiel Cardenas School of Cañar during 2016.

METHODS: A descriptive transversal research was made in a sample of 134 students of fifth, sixth and seventh year by applying a pre-elaborated quiz about sociodemographic aspects and characteristics, applying the Krece plus test to measure the nutritional status, physical activity and feeding habits. The data was tabulated in SPSS Software Version 15.0 by elaborating tables. The results were analyzed in a quantitative way, specifying the frequency and the percentage (f,%), obtaining the average and the standard deviation.

RESULTS: The research determined that among 134 students, 70,9% have low feeding habits from which the higher percentage is in male school students, the physical activity was poor in 82%, being predominant in men, the nutritional status was normal in 61,2% of the cases obtaining 27,6% with overweight and just 0,7% with underweight. CONCLUSIONS: It was determined that the feeding habits are inadequate, the physical activity is poor and the nutritional status of the school students was normal in most of the cases.