Exploring physical activity and dietary choices among adolescents in Troms County, with focus on a potential association between the two health-related behaviors. A cross-sectional study based on Fit Futures - part of The Tromsø Study

Abstract

Increased knowledge about physical activity(PA) and dietary choises could be valuable when preventive measures against overweight are planned and carried out. The main aim of the thesis was therefore to explore PA and dietary choises among adolescents in Troms County, furthermore to investigate if there were an association between these two health-related behaviors. The thesis is a cross-sectional analysis from Fit Futures 1, a part of the Tromsø Study, including 1st year high school students. Recomendations from The Norwegian Directorate of Health were used as source for creating four dependent variables on dietary choises. Unadjusted and adujsted analyses were performed, using contingency tables with chi-square test and logistic regression respectively. Main analysies found that nearly 42% of adolescents ate fish at lest twice per week, 15% of girls and 9% of boys ate «5 a day», about 20% ate unhealthy foods daily and 32% of girls and 61% of boys drank sugar sweetened beverages daily. 14% of girls and 21% of boys spent at least 60 min daily on PA outside of school hours. The variable on PA was significantly associated only with «5 a day». This study supports previous findings of health-related behaviors not always correlating and further studies are needed for increased knowledge on what drives health related behavior among adolescents.