"Evaluación del estado nutricional en adolescentes de 14 a 18 años del Colegio República de Israel . Cuenca 2009-2010"

Abstract

Precedent: Modifications in lifestyle, nutritional tendencies and grade of physical activity have determined the variations in the nutritional condition of a person worldwide. The nutritional conditions vary according to multiple factors such as: level of education, national availability of food, access to basic services, and environmental and working conditions. The following study: “Evaluation of the Nutritional Condition in Adolescents from 14 to 18 years old in “República de Israel” High School in Cuenca, 2009-2010” has the objective to evaluate the nutritional conditions, levels of physical activity and the food intake patterns. Methods: 328 students were recruited at random. The inclusion criteria were adolescents between 14 and 18 years old. The teenagers who were excluded were the ones with any type of serious illness, those who were under a diet as well as the females who were pregnant. The calculus of body mass rate and measurement of waist and hip circumferences were taken twice. Questionnaires were used for the physical activity evaluation. We registered all the activities during two days of the week and one day in the weekend. Each day was divided into periods of 15 minutes. In order to evaluate the food intake patterns, we worked with an interview with a 24 hours period of information. There were two measurements, one in a working day and the other one on a weekend day. Results: Of the total of students studied, 254 (77.44%) were females and 74 (22.56%) were males. The average age of the group was 16.35 years old. The biggest proportion of students, regardless of gender, presents a normal nutritional condition. In second place, there is a risk of overweight. In third place, there is overweight that is followed by the deficit and lastly, obesity. The ages that present more alterations in their nutritional conditions are between 15 and 16 years old.