Valoración del estado nutricional y actividad física en los docentes del Colegio Nueve de Octubre de la ciudad de Machala, 2019

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition in adults increases dramatically, causing millions of deaths per year. A factor related to malnutrition is sedentary lifestyle. These two problems increase the chances of suffering chronic diseases. Therefore, physical activity provides several benefits to the body against those diseases.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE: Determine the nutritional status and physical activity of the teachers who work in the High School Nueve de Octubre in the city of Machala, 2019.

METHODOLOGY: The study was descriptive and cross-sectional, where 80 teachers were studied. Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometry and the GPAQ questionnaire was applied to determine physical activity.

The data collected was recorded on a digital database in Microsoft Excel 2010. For the analysis and presentation of the results, the EPIDAT 4.2 program was used.

RESULTS: The total prevalence of overweight and obesity in teachers was 83.76%. The cases of normality appeared in 16.25%. 43.75% of people had a diagnosis of visceral obesity and a high risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

46.25% of teachers performed moderate physical activity, compared with 38.75% who performed low physical activity, the remaining 15% fulfilled high physical activity.

CONCLUSION: The population studied showed mainly moderate levels of physical activity; however, approximately ¾ parts of the teachers presented a harmful body mass index, which means a health risk and an early exposure to chronic diseases.