Nutritional behaviours and body self-perception in polish pupils attending middle-school.

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a vital part of child development, where acquired eating/dietary behaviour is often associated with ones' perception of body shape.

OBJECTIVES: To assess eating habits in relation to body shape perception and esteem in middle-school (junior-high) pupils.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Surveyed subjects were 170 middle-school pupils from Warsaw; 101 girls and 69 boys aged 15 years. An anonymous questionnaire was used to determine eating habits, body mass, growth and body shape perception. Anthropometric measurement cut-off points were taken according to the method of Cole et al.

RESULTS: Only 29% of pupils ate 5 daily meals; of whom there were significantly more girls than boys (35% vs 20%, p = 0.042). Girls more often consumed second breakfast than boys (p < 0.001), whilst boys ate dinner more frequently than girls (p = 0.004). Eating meals was observed in 86% all pupils, where sweets (71%) and fresh fruit (69%) were most commonly eaten. Boys ate fast-food more often than girls (p = 0.004), as well as savoury snacks (p = 0.002), sweets (p = 0.009) and sweetened fizzy drinks (p < 0.001). Girls however, consumed more low-fat foodstuffs compared to boys (p = 0.003). Over- weight was more common in boys than girls (26% vs 9%, p = 0.003), whereas girls were more frequently malnourished than boys (21% vs 7%, p = 0.016). Far fewer girls were satisfied with their body shape compared to boys (51% vs 94%, p < 0.001). Girls also more commonly expressed a desire for slimming, despite either having a correct body mass or being underweight.

CONCLUSIONS: Many adverse and abnormal eating habits of pupils were found, especially in boys, that could lead to over- weight and obesity. Subjects were found to incorrectly assess their body shape, particularly the girls, thereby leading to unwarranted slimming behaviour.

KEY WORDS: nutritional habits, middle-school pupils, perceived body shape/image.