Dietary habits of preadolescents from the perspective of a child and parents

Non-communicable diseases, including obesity account for over 63% of deaths globally, with worldwide incidence in constant rise. The main causes of obesity in childhood are imbalance between energy intake, energy spent for basic physiologic processes, and the activity. Also, socioeconomic status, family, peers and the knowledge on healthy diet were found to significantly affect the quality of child’s nutrition. The aim of this study was to assess causative relations between dietary habits, lifestyle and body mass of children aged 9 to 12 years. Children (n=123 ; 42.3% boys, 57.7% girls) and their parents (n=246) completed a questionnaire which was special designed to cover the study aims. The questionnaire included questions on child’s dietary habits, physical activity in the school and spare time. Generally, children think that their diet is of higher quality than their parents do (70.7% vs 58.5%). The number of meals and eating breakfast reports differ between children and their parents. 64.2% of parents reported that their child eats 4 to 5 meals per day, with 48% of children reporting the same thing. Also, regular breakfast consumption was reported by 90.2% of parents, while 80.5% of children reported the same. Majority of children gladly attend physical activity classes in school (94.3%), and 77.2% of children is involved in other sports activity in their spare time. Additionally, boys spend more time in front of the computer than girls do. The results show that diet-related and lifestyle behaviour reports differ between children and their parents, suggesting significant influence of peers.