Estudio de hábitos nutricionales y actividad física en escolares de las ciudades de Granada y Ceuta

Résumé

ABSTRACT In the following Doctoral Thesis "STUDY OF NUTRITIONAL HABITS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN SCHOOLS OF THE CITIES OF GRANADA AND CEUTA", the nutritional habits, lifestyle and nutritional status of schoolchildren between 9 and 16 years of age in Spain (Granada and Ceuta) and Portugal (Oporto), have been analysed and compared examining the possibility of nutritional risk presented by these students, as well as the differences that might exist according to their geographic location and socioeconomic level. Likewise, it is proposed to determine the most appropriate methodological procedure to estimate the percentage of total body fat in schoolchildren in Granada and the Autonomous City of Ceuta. As for the most appropriate methodological procedure to estimate the percentage of total body fat, the Behnke and Lohman equations with the BIA (bioimpedance) are suggested to be used as the preferred methods of data collection in adolescent and Caucasian preteen adolescents. It represents an alternative to the difficulty noted in some studies to estimate BMI and the application of corrections in terms of age; since depending on which one is used it can underestimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, advising to make estimates based on direct data and methods that take into account the sex and the age of the subjects. As per the data obtained in this study, a quarter of the sample population presents a high nutritional risk, mainly due to incorrect food consumption and sedentary habits, matching the data provided by studies carried out in Europe and the Mediterranean region. There are programs dedicated to children's health, however there is a lack of specific programs for the adolescent stage, leaving an intermediate space between the stage of childhood and adulthood in which the acquired knowledge is lost and contributing to the appearance of pathologies that can chronify into adulthood if there is no intervention. Therefore, it is recommended to implement programs which have adolescents as their target population and with policies that favour healthy habits that adapt to the factors that influence the health of these students, thereby preventing the early development of pathologies which are typical of the adult stage taking into account the influence of socio-economic factors on adolescent health.