Relation of some anthropometric parameters of children aged 13–16 years with their eating habits and physical activity

Abstract

People’s lifespan is increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the high quality of life. Healthy lifestyle is related to healthy food and must include some physical activities. The aim of the study was to analyse how students’ (aged 13–16 years) eating habits and physical activity are related to the height-weight classes. They were administered a questionnaire that asked for information about the frequency of eating different food groups. Based on the 5 SD height-weight classification devised by the Centre for Physical Anthropology at the University of Tartu, the subjects were divided into five classes. Boys were more often overweight than girls. Most of the normal-weight boys and girls in the present study ate breakfast and had a school lunch. Their diet was sufficiently healthy, but included too many sweets and beverages with sugar. According to the heightweight classification, the group of leptomorphs was the largest – 27.8% of girls and 29.6% of boys. Pycnomorphs and large respondents did not like to eat in the morning but ate extra food at school. Although pycnomorphs were heavy, they were physically more active than others.