Determination of body mass index, vegetable and fruit consumption, change process, nutritional habits and physical activity status in early adolescents

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the fruit and vegetable consumption, nutritional habits, physical activity and Body Mass Index (BMI) of early adolescents. Within the scope of the study, measurement tools including general information, questions about dietary habits, the scale of fruit and vegetable consumption change process and the scale of the Physical Activity Question (PAQ) form were applied to the students. A total of 423 students, 51.8% (n = 219) female and 48.2% (n = 204) male, between the ages of 10-12, studying in secondary school, were included in the study sample. The average age of the participants is 11.4 ± 0.5 years. Average BMI values are 19.1±3.13 kg/m2 for female students and 20.1±3.14 kg/m2 for male students. Students' fruit and vegetable consumption change process score according to gender was determined as 59.4±16.66 for female students and 63.7±6.95 for male students. According to gender, fruit and vegetable consumption change process score is significantly different (p<0.05). Significant differences were observed between the scores obtained from the fruit and vegetable consumption change process scale according to the obesity status of the students (p<0.05) and the score obtained by the obese students from the scale was found to be lower than the score obtained by the non-obese students. The relationship between the beverage consumption of overweight and obese individuals and the fruit-vegetable consumption scale score is significant (p<0.05). According to PAQ calculation, the score of female students (26.3±7.11) is lower than the score of male students (26.7±8.15) (p> 0.05). The average PAQ score was 28.4±8.03 in extremely thin individuals, 29.0±7.83 in thin individuals, 28.0±7.25 in normal individuals, 24.0±6.80 in overweight individuals and 20.6±6.40 in obese individuals. The difference between the PAQ score and BMI values of the participants is significant (p<0.001). In conclusion, fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activities, nutritional habits and BMI values of students in early adolescence are directly related to each other.School health should be improved by strengthening suggestions and policies for healthy nutrition in schools, which play an important role in the protection and improvement of social health.