Ülkü Demirci¹* and Ayşegül Kaptanoğlu²

¹Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Istanbul Aydın University, Istanbul, Turkey
²Department of Health Management, Istanbul Aydın University, Istanbul, Turkey

*Corresponding Author: Ülkü Demirci, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Istanbul Aydın University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Received: December 12, 2022; Published: December 29, 2022

Abstract

Objective: The present study was conducted to assess differences in nutritional status, lifestyle, and eating habits in the schooling period in both genders.

Methods: This descriptive and observational study included 1279 children, aged 7 to 11 years, from four primary schools in Istanbul, Turkey in the year 2019-2020. A questionnaire was employed to objectively assess the dietary habits along with their relationship with lifestyle patterns.

Results: The waist circumference of boys (75.23 ± 12.11) was substantially higher than girls (67.46 ± 9.91) (p = 0.001). Also, boys had a statistically significant rate of obesity than girls (11% vs. 4%; p = 0.04). In terms of eating patterns and maintaining a consistent rhythm in main meals, boys substantially skipped breakfast than girls (60% vs. 43.1%), and most boys (83%) consumed ready-to-eat packaged items from the school canteen compared to girls who preferred fruits (77%). It was found that at least two fast-food meals were consumed by 77% of boys and 60% of girls on a weekly basis.

Conclusions: Public or school health initiatives focused at promoting participation in physical activity and minimizing sedentary habits need to be promoted to enhance the knowledge pertaining to nutrition.

Keywords: Diet; Eating Habits; Lifestyle; Nutritional Status; Obesity; Overweight

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Citation

Citation: Ülkü Demirci and Ayşegül Kaptanoğlu. “Dietary Habits in Elementary School-Aged Children from Istanbul, Turkey".Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 7.1 (2023): 141-146.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Ülkü Demirci and Ayşegül Kaptanoğlu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.