Quality of diet, health behaviours, and level of physical activity in physical education students from Poland and Spain

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships of healthy diet indices (pHDI-10 and nHDI-14) with the level of physical activity and health behaviours among Polish and Spanish physical education students. Material and methods: Research was conducted among 499 students (219 from Poland and 280 from Spain). Three standardised research tools were used: the Dietary Habits and Nutrition Beliefs Questionnaire (Kom-PAN), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and the Health Behaviour Inventory (HBI) by Z. Juczyński. Pearson’s r correlation coefficient and moderation analysis using IBM SPSS 21 software were used to determine relationships between variables. The level of significance was set at p = 0.05. Results: In the group of students studied, the healthy diet index (pHDI-10) evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100 was 23.23 points, while the unhealthy diet index (nHDI-14) was 14.47 points. Among the categories of health behaviours, students obtained the highest scores for a positive mental attitude, whereas among the domains of physical activity – for vigorous exercise. The analysis demonstrated a significant positive relationship between the pHDI-10 index and moderate physical activity (p = 0.038), and between the nHDI-14 index and walking (p < 0.001). Along with the increase in the pHDI-10 index, an increase was found in the level of preventive behaviours (p = 0.001), proper eating habits (p < 0.001), and the general index of health behaviours (p < 0.001). Significant negative correlations were found between the nHDI-14 and: the level of positive mental attitudes (p < 0.001), preventive behaviours (p = 0.010), proper eating habits, health practices, and the general index of health behaviours (p < 0.001). An increase in the healthy diet index along with a decrease in the general index of health behaviours (HBI Total) was also noted, but only in Polish students (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Low levels of healthy (pHDI-10) and unhealthy diet (nHDI-14) indices, a high level of physical activity, differentiation of individual categories of health behaviours, significant relationships between healthy diet indices, and the level of certain domains of physical activity and health behaviours were demonstrated. A moderate effect of the country of residence on some relationships was also found.