Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Nutritional health and adequate physical activity (PA), especially in childhood have a substantial role in health. This study assessed the association of dietary behaviors (main courses and snacks intake) with PA in children and adolescents as a part of a larger national study. Using multistage random cluster sampling method, a representative sample of 14880 school students were selected from urban and rural areas of 30 provinces of Iran (2011-2012). Through a validated questionnaire, daily consumption of main course (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) as well as daily consumption of different snacks and health foods (fast foods, milk, vegetables, dry fruits, fresh fruits, sweetened beverages, salty snacks and sweets) were recorded for every participants. Information of past week weekly frequency of leisure time PA was collected. Overall, 13486 out of 14880 students (response rate: 90.6%) participated in this survey. Participants consisted of 6640 (49.2%) girls and 75.6% urban residents; their mean and standard deviation (SD) age was 12.47 (3.36) years. Daily consumption of fresh fruits (OR: 1.35, 95%CI: 1.20-1.52), dried fruits (OR: 1.21; 95%CI: 1.06-1.40), vegetable (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.24-1.56), and milk (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.21-1.52) increased the risk of vigorous PA compare to mild PA in adjusted model. Skipping the breakfast, lunch and dinner decreased the risk of moderate and vigorous PA compare to mild PA (P<0.05). Present study showed that dietary behaviors are associated with PA level in Iranian adolescents. Findings should be used for better evidence based planning of health promotional programs in these age groups.

Biography

Email: delara.salehifar@yahoo.com