The Relationships between Food Consumption, Exercise and Nutritional Status of Adolescents in Bangkok Noi District, Bangkok Province

Purpose: To study nutritional status and to search relationships between food consumption behavior and exercise, and the nutritional status of adolescents. Design: Descriptive research. Methods: The subjects comprised grade 7 students in academic year 2008 from 2 schools subordinated to the Office of the Basic Education Commission, Bangkok Education Service Area Office 3 Bangkok Noi. Data were collected from 410 students by simple random sampling. They were asked to answer rating scale questions about food consumption behavior and open-ended questions about weekly exercise and playing sports including details of activities and time spent. Their nutritional status were assessed using the standard weight-for-height percentage formula of the Nutrition Division, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, 1999. This data was analyzed using the Correlation and ANOVA. Main findings: The sample group consists of 204 males and 206 females. The average age was 12.13 years. Most of their parents graduated from the primary school. They work for hire and can earn around 10,000-20,000 baht/month. The nutritional status of 39.3% of the students is normal. 10.5% are overweight. 29.5% are obese and 20.2% are underweight. Males are more overweight and underweight than females. Males spent more time on exercise than females with a statistical significance at level of P consumption behavior of the overweight and underweight adolescents are recommended.