Eating habits and life style of adolescent students in the public schools in the city of Maringá-PR ; Hábitos alimentares e estilo de vida de adolescentes estudantes na rede pública de ensino da cidade de Maringá-PR

The objective of this work has been to know about eating preferences and life style of adolescents registered in a public school in the city of Maringá, PR. The information concerning socio-economical level, life style, physical activities, eating habits and eating frequency were obtained from the adolescents by the means of a questionnaire. A total of 100 adolescents were assessed, 56% of them being female and 44% male. The following results were observed: 85% of the adolescents have between two and four meals a day; breakfast and late supper were the meals mostly omitted, with just 16% and 27% of them reporting having those meals, respectively. It was also found that 65% of the students interviewed do not take any food to school, 23% buy their meal at the canteen three to four times a week and 12% buy it daily. The meals mostly taken by the students were crisps and fried snacks, corresponding to 53% and 23% respectively. It was also found that the habit of watching television is common among the adolescents interviewed, of which 61% reported watching between two to four hours a day. It must be pointed out that they have the majority of meals in front of the television. The practice of physical activities was mentioned by 79% of students. The consumption of some foods occurred with less frequency, as it is the case of vegetables and fruit, with 41 % and 49% of the students interviewed, respectively, do not have these kinds of food daily. Around 59% take between one and two daily portions of meat and 74% one or two portions of vegetables. Concerning milk and dairy products, 60% take one or two portions a day. The consumption o sugars, candies, oils and fats was reported by 57% of the adolescents interviewed, being soft drinks, chewing gums, candies, chocolate and pastries the most consumed. Based on the results found, it can be observed that there is a need for intervention in the eating habits of these adolescents, either by the development of educational projects or by nutritional orientation that aim at ...