Evaluación del estado nutricional en adolescentes de 15 a 18 años que asisten al Instituto Técnico Superior Agronómico Salesiano del cantón Paute en el Año 2011

Abstract

Objective:Evaluate the nutritional status, phyical activity levels and feeding patterns in adolescents between 15 and 18 years old in Paute's secondary schools. Methods:This is a prevalence study, performed in 'Colegio Agronomico Salesiano' in the city of Paute, Province of Azuay, Ecuador in 200 students between 15 and 18 years old. A questionnaire was performed to determine physical activity levels as well as feeding patterns. To determine the nutritional status, anthropometic measures were used, together with BMI. Results: The mean age in the studies population was 17.18 years old with a standard deviation of 0.709 years. Males were more prevalent (81.5%). Overweight was present in 18% of adolescents. Underweight was present in 3% and obesity in 1.5%. The major nutritional anomaly was overweight; the most frequent meal was anintegral meal (38%), followed by a hypercaloric meal in 32%, a very fat diet in 21% and in only 9% an hyperproteic diet. The levels of physical activity in this adolescent population reached 43.5%, while 9% was inactive. Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight, obesity and malnutrition is high. Age, sex, feeding patterns and physical activitywere associated with nutritional status in this population. DeCS: NUTRITION ASSESSMENT; NUTRITION, PUBLIC HEALTH; EPIDEMIOLOGY, DESCRIPTIVE; DATA COLLECTION-STATISTICS & NUMERICAL DATA; MALNUTRITION; OVERWEIGHT; OBESITY; FEEDING BEHAVIOR; MOTOR ACTIVITY; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; ADOLESCENT; STUDENTS; PAUTE-ECUADOR