Kontakt 2010, 12(1):47-54 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2010.006

Selected aspects of nourishment in school-aged youth in the Slovak RepublicHealth and Social Sciences

Martina Bašková

Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Jesseniova lekárska fakulta v Martine, Ústav nelekárskych študijných programov

Adequate nourishment is an important condition for the growth in the period of adolescence. The structure of meals should correspond to the basic food pyramid and it should be in agreement with recommended nutritional doses for the appropriate age category and gender. The project Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) represents one of the first international cross-sectional studies focused on health of adolescents and behaviour associated with health.
The target of the present contribution is to show certain findings in the field of nutritional habits and behaviour associated with food resulting from the research HBSC, which was implemented in a target group of adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 years in Slovakia in 2006.
The data were accumulated in school classes by the method of an anonymous standardized questionnaire. The group included 3 882 respondents (46.3% of boys) divided into three age groups: 11 years of age (1 298 respondents) - 13 years of age (1327 respondents) - 15 years of age (1 252 respondents). The research was implemented at primary schools over June in 2006, in cooperation with 36 regional Offices of Public Health in the Slovak Republic.
Within the framework of the analysis, the variables were dichotomized in the same way as in the processing of the international report. Percent data were plotted in graphs and data from the international report (HBSC average) were added for comparison. The statistical significance of gender and age differences was analyzed with the help of the logistic regression and expressed as the odds ratio with an appropriate confidence interval.
Drinking too sweet soft drinks in Slovak children is considerably higher (by 10%) in all the gender and age groups compared with the HBSC average. In boys, there was a considerable increase from 34% in the age group of 11 years to 43% in the group of 15 years.
The occurrence of the overweight and obesity in school-aged children in Slovakia did not exceed 10% and the occurrence found was only one half the HBSC average. In all the age groups, boys were considerably prevalent compared with girls in the occurrence of overweight and obesity.
The occurrence of activities aimed at the weight reaction increased statistically significantly with age in girls with achieving a doubled value in the age group of 15 years compared with 11 years (from 9% to 18%). Girls considered themselves more frequently as fatty compared with boys, the difference being significant in age groups of 13 and 15 years.
The number of respondents, who reported their every-day physical activity, ranged between 51% (boys of 11 and 13 years of age) and 29% (girls of 15 years of age). Compared with the HBSC average, the occurrence was considerably higher in Slovakia in both genders as well as in all the three age groups.

Keywords: nourishment; adolescents; HBSC; Slovakia

Published: March 31, 2010  Show citation