Diet quality, nutrition and physical activity among adolescents: the Web-SPAN (Web-Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition) project
- 1 March 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Public Health Nutrition
- Vol. 12 (11), 2009-2017
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980009990292
Abstract
ObjectiveTo assess the overall diet quality of a sample of adolescents living in Alberta, Canada, and evaluate whether diet quality, nutrient intakes, meal behaviours (i.e. meal skipping and consuming meals away from home) and physical activity are related.DesignA cross-sectional study design. Students completed the self-administered Web-Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition (Web-SPAN). Students were classified as having poor, average or superior diet quality based on Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating (CFGHE).SettingOne hundred and thirty-six schools (37 %) within forty-four public and private school boards (75 %) in Alberta, Canada.SubjectsGrade 7 to 10 Alberta students (n 4936) participated in the school-based research.ResultsOn average, students met macronutrient requirements; however, micronutrient and fibre intakes were suboptimal. Median CFGHE food group intakes were below recommendations. Those with poor diet quality (42 %) had lower intakes of protein, fibre and low-calorie beverages; higher intakes of carbohydrates, fat and Other Foods (e.g. foods containing mostly sugar, high-salt/fat foods, high-calorie beverages, low-calorie beverages and high-sugar/fat foods); a lower frequency of consuming breakfast and a higher frequency of consuming meals away from home; and a lower level of physical activity when compared with students with either average or superior diet quality.ConclusionsAlberta adolescents were not meeting minimum CFGHE recommendations, and thus had suboptimal intakes and poor diet quality. Suboptimal nutritional intakes, meal behaviours and physical inactivity were all related to poor diet quality and reflect the need to target these health behaviours in order to improve diet quality and overall health and wellness.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Healthy Eating Index and Youth Healthy Eating Index Are Unique, Nonredundant Measures of Diet Quality among Low-Income, African American AdolescentsJournal of Nutrition, 2009
- Patterns and Correlates of Physical Activity and Nutrition Behaviors in AdolescentsAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2007
- Inequality in the Built Environment Underlies Key Health Disparities in Physical Activity and ObesityPediatrics, 2006
- Applications of Dietary Reference Intakes in dietary assessment and planningApplied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2006
- Breakfast Habits, Nutritional Status, Body Weight, and Academic Performance in Children and AdolescentsJournal of the American Dietetic Association, 2005
- Correlates of unhealthy weight-control behaviors among adolescents: Implications for prevention programs.Health Psychology, 2003
- Fast food restaurant use among adolescents: associations with nutrient intake, food choices and behavioral and psychosocial variablesInternational Journal of Obesity, 2001
- Collecting Sensitive Self-Report Data With Laptop Computers: Impact on the Response Tendencies of Adolescents in a Home InterviewJournal of Research on Adolescence, 1999
- A Semiparametric Transformation Approach to Estimating Usual Daily Intake DistributionsJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1996
- Covariance of adolescent health behaviors: the Class of 1989 studyHealth Education Research, 1995