Relación del índice de masa corporal con el consumo de alimentos procesados, conocimientos sobre el etiquetado nutricional y la actividad física en adolescentes de la ciudad de Cuenca, en el periodo octubre 2021- marzo 2022

Abstract

Background: the last decades have been characterized by a change in eating habits on a global scale, which consists of the progressive substitution of natural or minimally processed foods, added to a sedentary life, leading to problems of obesity and overweight. Objective: to determine the relationship of the Body Mass Index (BMI) with the consumption of processed foods, knowledge about nutritional labeling and physical activity in adolescents from the city of Cuenca. Methodology: A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in adolescents from 10 to 19 years of age who attend the fiscal, fiscal and private educational units of the city of Cuenca, in the period 2021-2022. Results: 50.0% of participants indicated that they always or almost always consume processed foods; 49.66% of the students surveyed have an average knowledge and 36.09% have a high level of knowledge in nutritional labeling; 56.55% of the students have a slight or sedentary level of physical activity. A higher percentage of overweight and obesity is related to a higher frequency of consumption of processed foods (p= 0.044) and less physical activity among students (p= 0.015). No relationship was found between a higher percentage of overweight and obesity with the level of knowledge of nutritional labeling (p=0.45). Conclusions: It was found that there is a relationship between BMI with the consumption of processed foods and with the level of physical activity, while no relationship was found with knowledge of nutritional labeling.