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Volume 8
Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
ISSN: 2165-7904
Childhood Obesity 2018
March 15-16, 2018
Page 37
conference
series
.com
March 15-16, 2018 | Barcelona, Spain
11
th
International Conference on
Childhood Obesity and Nutrition
Elena Roura, J Obes Weight Loss Ther 2018, Volume 8
DOI: 10.4172/2165-7904-C1-056
Assessment of eating habits and physical activity among Spanish adolescents; the cooking and
active leisure, TAS program
W
orldwide obesity has more than doubled in the last 40 years. Even more worrying is the fact that the number of overweight
and obese children and adolescents has considerably increased. Socioeconomic development, as well as educational,
agricultural and marketing policies have significantly changed dietary and physical activity habits among the youngest, who are
thus susceptible todevelop chronic anddisabling diseases such as diabetes, some cancers and cardiovascular disorders. Adolescence
is a critical age, in which the adoption of healthy habits may have dramatic effects on the health state in adulthood. For this
reason, prompt interventions are urgently required to prevent the onset of obesity in this time of life. In this regard, the CAL-TAS
program fromAlicia Foundation was born to combat obesity and promote healthy lifestyles in Spanish adolescents. A total of 2519
students, aged 13–14 years, from 79 schools distributed all over the 17 autonomous communities in Spain were asked to report
through the CAL-TAS platform their food intake and physical activity over one week. The body mass index, the consumption of
food and beverages, the intake of macronutrients and micronutrients, and the values obtained from the PAQ-A questionnaire,
which evaluated physical activity, were analyzed. 20% of the participants were overweight or obese. In general, adolescents did
not or poorly respect the recommendations provided by the Spanish Society of Community Nutrition. For example, in more than
half of the subjects, the ingestion of fruits and beverages was less than recommended, whereas the consumption of meat, baked
goods and fried foods was excessive. Moreover, adolescents with higher body mass index also presented worse eating habits and
more inactivity. In conclusion, Spanish adolescents present low adherence to recommendations provided by the Spanish Society
of Community Nutrition (SENC) and by the World Health Organization. In order to prevent obesity-related disorders, effective
educational programmes have to be designed. Indeed, adolescents and their families should be aware that the early adoption of
healthy dietary habits and of a correct physical activity may strongly improve their future quality of life.
Elena Roura
Alícia Foundation, Spain
Figure:
Compliance with dietary recommendations; percentage of participants consuming insufficient, recommended or excessive weekly
servings of the indicated foods and beverages. Reference values are provided by SENC Dietary Guidelines