EATING BEHAVIOUR AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS AN ESSENTIAL DETERMINANT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS AMONG SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN

Abstract

Eating behaviour is a broad term that encompasses food choice and motives, feeding practices, dieting, and eating-related problems such as obesity, eating disorders, and feeding disorders. Eating habits regroup “conscious, collective, and repetitive behaviours, which lead people to select, consume, and use certain foods or diets, in response to social and cultural influences. The study is to assess the nutritional status, eating behaviour and physical activity patterns among selected school-going children and to identify the association between eating behaviour and physical activity among selected school-going boys and girls. Five hundred school-going children aged 11 to 13 years were selected from one school in the urban areas of the Coimbatore District by purposive sampling. Nutritional Status was assessed using standard procedures. The Physical activity of the selected children was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) -2004, and The eating behaviour of the selected children was assessed using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26) scale. 37.7% and 36.7% among boys and 30.5% and 45.5% among girls, respectively. Physical activity levels of girls were significantly lower, with 56.5 per cent of the girls stating that they were not engaged in any physical activity compared to 39 per cent among boys. EAT scale 26. It was found that 18.4% of boys and 17.5% of girls were at risk of developing eating disorders. the effectiveness of these tools and recommends the inclusion of eating behaviour and physical activity assessment in the nutritional screening of children, particularly school-aged children, who are at an increased risk of disordered eating.