Assessment of the Nutrition Regimen and Diet of Students of 10-16 Years Old in General Secondary Education Institutions

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the regimen and diet of students aged 10-16 years of general secondary education institutions. Materials and methods. A survey was conducted with a specially designed questionnaire «Questionnaire for assessing the nutritional status of schoolchildren». The study was conducted among 453 teenagers aged 10-16 years of two institutions of general secondary education in the city of Sumy, Ukraine in 2021. The teenagers' parents gave informed consent to the study. The obtained data were subject to mathematical and statistical processing using the «STATISTICA 6.0» application. Results and discussion. The main basis for strengthening the health of young students is the creation of a health-saving educational environment. It should influence the formation of food choices in children and adolescents. A reasonable choice of food products is fixed in the food habit. Eating habits shape the health of the adult population in the future. As a result of the analysis of the results of the study, a satisfactory diet was established in 74.71% of students with a frequency of meals 3-5 times a day. “Snacks” with easily digestible carbohydrate dishes (48.12%) and “junk food” (8.36%) violate the diet. The students’ diet is unbalanced due to low consumption of dairy products and increased consumption of sugar (64.60%), as well as eating fast food (24.13%). The obtained results provide grounds for a detailed consideration of the diet of food products mainly consumed by schoolchildren: 70.8% daily consume meat and fish dishes; 50.34% consume potato dishes 2-3 times a day; 39.54% eat pasta and spaghetti 2-3 times a week; 39.31% 2-3 times a week consume cereals in the form of buckwheat, rice, millet; 36.71% consume hard or soft cottage cheese; 56.55% drink milk, however, not every day; 82.99% consume fruit or juice every day. The sources of students' knowledge about the rules of healthy eating (schools – 25.95%, parents – 24.55%) and obstacles to the observance of the rules of healthy eating (laziness – 20.54%, lack of free time – 13.39%) were identified. Conclusion. A comparative analysis of the studies conducted with the data of modern studies of the regimen, diet, awareness and sources of knowledge about healthy nutrition among students of general educational institutions indicates the need to continue searching for ways to improve the effectiveness of nutrition education programs in the context of modern trends. Prospects for further research are to assess the regimen and diet of students aged 10-16 years depending on their nutritional status and to develop measures to optimize health-saving technologies in the direction of teaching balanced nutrition in educational institutions