engleski

Daily energy intake, physical activity and physical fitness levels and some eating habits of 11-years old students

PURPOSE: sedentary lifestyles are increasingly implied in the rise of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescent. Special consideration should be given to behavioural and lifestyle factors that are more readily adaptable and may have an early effect on metabolic risk factors. The purpose of this study was to assess energy intake, physical activity, physical fitness, BMI and certain eating habits (breakfast and snacks after 8p.m.) of 11-year old children in Slovenia. RESULTS: the cluster sample of 72 students (35 boys and 37 girls), aged11.8 (±0.3) years, who participated in a larger international study in May 2006, was used for this purpose. The energy expenditure was assessed by multiple-sensor body monitors (SenseWear Armband ; BodyMedia Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA). The energy intake and frequency of breakfast and snacks after 8p.m.wereassessed using a self- report questionnaire(My Pyramid Tracker Tutorial ; USDA, Center for Nutritition Policy and Promotion, USA) during two weekdays and two weekend days. BMI was calculated according to IOTF standards. Physical fitness levels were evaluated by results of tests: sit-ups, hang-up, 600m dash, 20 m endurance shuttle-run and VO2 max. A Pearson correlation coefficient was used to test the connections between observed variables and multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the differences between groups according to their physical fitness, the frequency of the two observed meals and gender. RESULTS: results show that boys and girls underestimated their daily energy intakes. They reported a one-third lower intake than reported in other similar studies, especially those students with an increased BMI. Girls were less physically active than boys. In both groups the physical activity levels were higher during the week than on weekends, but the energy intakes were higher during the weekends. There were no significant connections between BMI and physical activity levels. Negative correlations between BMI and energy intake were found. BMI was significantly associated with all selected tests of physical fitness except the sit-ups test. Results also show that half of students do not eat breakfast regularly during weekdays ; more than half of the girls and less than one third of the boys eat snacks after 8p.m. However, the relationship between the frequency of the two observed meals, physical fitness and gender of the students was negligible. CONCLUSIONS: we can conclude that the assessment of energy intake using a self- report questionnaire is problematic in this age group. The measurements of physical activity level showed that students should be more active during weekends.

children ; overweight

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