Characterization of healthy habits and physical activity in adolescent students from Chile

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize the physical activity levels and their association with healthy and unhealthy behaviors in adolescent students in Chile. It was a non-experimental, cross-sectional, and descriptive study. The non-probabilistic sample consisted of 175 high school students from public schools (n=103 females, age: 14.4±1.48 years; n=72 males, age: 14.2±1.56 years) who completed the World Health Organization's Global School-based Student Health Survey during the second semester of the year 2023. The main findings revealed a 32.5% prevalence of overweight and obesity and an 8.6% compliance with the World Health Organization physical activity recommendation. Those who engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day show higher consumption of fruits and vegetables and fewer absences from classes, while those who use active transportation also demonstrate higher consumption of fruits and vegetables. Adolescent students are mostly physically inactive, with a higher level of inactivity among females, and those who met the physical activity recommendations consumed more fruits and vegetables than those who did not. From a gender perspective, females exhibited higher drug and marijuana consumption, increased feelings of loneliness, worry, suicidal ideation, and higher rates of absenteeism compared to males. These results highlight the necessity of developing intervention strategies targeting the adolescent school population with a gender perspective, focusing on promoting physical activity, active transportation, as well as healthy habits in both physical and mental domains.

Keywords

• Healthy habits, physical activity, adolescent, mental health, overweight, obesity