Related Experiment Videos
Adolescents' healthy lifestyle
Adilson Marques1, Nuno Loureiro2, Bruno Avelar-Rosa3
1Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Centro Interdisciplinar do Estudo da Performance Humana, Lisbon, Portugal; Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Centro de Investigação em Saúde Pública, Lisbon, Portugal; Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina, Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Lisbon, Portugal.
Jornal De Pediatria
|November 6, 2018
Summary
As adolescents age, their healthy lifestyle practices decline. This study of over 148,000 adolescents across 37 countries shows a consistent decrease in healthy behaviors with increasing age.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Adolescent Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Adolescence is a critical period for establishing lifelong health behaviors.
- Understanding age-related trends in adolescent lifestyle is crucial for public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the relationship between age and healthy lifestyle in a large, international adolescent sample.
- To identify how different components of a healthy lifestyle change from early adolescence to age 15.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children 2010 survey, including 148,839 adolescents from 37 countries.
- Developed a composite healthy lifestyle score based on physical activity, diet, screen time, and substance use (alcohol, tobacco).
- Employed self-reported measures for all healthy lifestyle indicators.
Main Results:
- A significant linear decrease in healthy lifestyle prevalence was observed as age increased from 11 to 15 years.
- Perfect healthy lifestyle scores were rare, declining from 4.7% in 11-year-old boys to 0.8% in 15-year-old girls.
- Healthy behaviors, including physical activity and healthy eating, diminished with advancing age.
Conclusions:
- Adolescents generally exhibit unhealthy lifestyle patterns, with a notable decline in healthy behaviors as they age.
- There is a substantial need for targeted public health initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles and raise awareness among adolescents.
- Early intervention strategies are essential to counteract the age-related decline in adolescent health behaviors.