An assessment of the perception of physical activity, eating habits, self-efficacy and the knowledge about healthy food in Albanian adolescents

Abstract

ABSTRACTÇitozi R, Bozo D, Pano G. An assessment of the perception of physical activity, eating habits, self-efficacy and the knowledge about healthy food in Albanian adolescents. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol.8, No. Proc2, pp. S192-S203, 2013. Objective: The present study evaluates eating habits and behaviors, and nutritional and food safety knowledge of a group of Albanian adolescents. Design: A dietary questionnaire previously constructed and tested was self-administered during school time. Each section was evaluated using a separate score. Setting: The study was carried out as a part of a nutritional surveillance project in the capital of Albania, Tirana. Subjects: Three hundred and forty (340) adolescent subjects (180 males, 160 females), aged 15.2 ± 0.5 years, attending the 8-9 years of secondary schools participated in the study. Measures: We evaluated eating habits, physical activity, meaning of healthy and unhealthy dietary habits and food, self-efficacy, barriers affecting healthy food choices, nutritional and food safety, weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI). Results: Only 33.1% of the samples have satisfactory eating habits; 16.8% have a very active lifestyle; only 7.9% have quite good nutritional knowledge. Conclusions: The results point out unhealthy behaviors influencing adolescents' eating habits and suggest which of these must be considered in order to develop tailored nutrition interventions, improving adolescents' consciousness aimed at adopting a healthy lifestyle.

The Effect of an Educational Intervention on Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior about Healthy Dietary Habits among Adolescent Females

“…(5) In contrast Çitozi et al (2013) reported that only 2.6% of the Albanian female school students were obese and 14.7% were overweight, and 3.8% of females were underweight. (9) In the present study, there was significant increase in total scores of attitude and behavior of healthy dietary habits after the intervention, but not in total knowledge score. Also, this intervention has led to significant decrease in the mean scores of barriers.…”

“…(8) Factors H Original Article inducing eating behaviors have to be better understood in order to develop effective nutrition interventions. (9) Barriers to healthy eating in adolescents include a lack of time, limited availability of healthy foods lack of concern about for eating healthy food. (10) Chen et al (2015) recommended that interventions are needed to assist adolescents in adopting healthy eating behaviour.…”

Perceived Barriers to Maintaining Healthy Body Weight among Saudi Women of Reproductive Age in Jeddah City

“…Diet and nutrition play important roles in maintaining health and preventing numerous diseases [4]. A decrease in morbidity and mortality associated with lifestyle health diseases may be achievable if healthy EHs are adopted early in life and maintained in the long term [8].…”

“…Maintaining a healthy body weight is important for overall health and can help prevent and control many diseases and conditions [4]. Previous studies in Saudi Arabia and Arab countries have concluded that Arab women face more perceived barriers to healthy lifestyle than men, particularly for PA [39,[51][52][53][54].…”

“…Maintaining a healthy body weight is important for overall health and can help prevent and control obesity and its associated diseases [4]. Healthy eating (HE) and physical activity (PA) are vital strategies for losing and maintaining weight.…”