Evaluación del estado nutricional en adolescentes de 15 a 18 años que asisten a los colegios: Gualaceo, Miguel Malo, Nuevo Mundo, Zhidmad y Santo Domingo de Guzmán del cantón Gualaceo en el período lectivo 2010-2011

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate nutritional status, physical activity levels and patterns of food intake in adolescents aged 15 to 18 who attend schools in Gualaceo: Nuevo Mundo, Gualaceo, Zhidmad, Santo Domingo de Guzman and Miguel Malo Gonzalez Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study in five schools in the canton Gualaceo during the academic year 2010 to 2011. The sample was representative and randomly between urban and rural schools of the canton, taking into account criteria such as: type of school (fiscal or private) and gender of students. The sample was 600 students between the ages of 15 and 18. The interview and observation research techniques were used. Surveys were conducted to determine the physical activity and dietary intake patterns, in determining the nutritional status and anthropometric measurements was used BMI. For tabulation and analysis of data we worked with the descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Mean age was 16.14 years with a SD of 0.928 years, male sex was the most frequent with 57.8%, 50.3% of the population resides in rural areas, 54, 2% of adolescents studying in private schools. Regarding nutritional status, prevalence of under weight was 9.2%, the 11%of over weight and obesity of 2.3%, also evidenced by 19.7% of abdominal and visceral obesity, and 15.3% of short stature. In 40% of cases the predominant diet was the integral and physical inactivity was found in 55.2% of adolescents. Conclusions: The study showed high prevalence of malnutrition, obesity and over weight associated variables such as physical inactivity, age, gender and type of school. Other variables showed no statistically significant differences.