Supervisors info:
Ανδρονίκη Νάσκα, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ, Επιβλέπουσα
Εμμανουέλα Μαγριπλή, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Επιστήμης Τροφίμων & Διατροφής του Ανθρώπου, Γεωπονικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Φίλιππος Ορφανός, Μέλος ΕΔΙΠ, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Adolescent obesity has reached alarming proportions in all developed countries. Apart from the negative impact of obesity on adolescents' lives during their adolescence, it is difficult to reverse in adulthood. Therefore, the state is called upon to pursue policies to reduce the prevalence of adolescent obesity. Understanding the determinants of obesity prevalence is vital for policy design.
This thesis aims to investigate the association between the socio-economic status of the family, the composition of food choices, adolescents' dietary behaviour, the intensity of their physical activity and their body mass index (BMI) by examining differences in these associations by the urbanity of adolescents' place of residence.
The data used for the analysis come from the Hellenic National Nutrition and Health Survey (HNNHS), conducted between 2013 and 2015. The database includes data on adolescents' height and weight, as well as on socio-economic characteristics of the family (family size, highest educational level in the family, prefecture of residence), adolescents' physical activity, energy and nutrient intake, dietary behaviour, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, general health status of adolescents, time spent on screens, problems with sleep, and sleep patterns.
The five significant findings of this work are: first, even within this narrow age group, there are differences in BMI per year of age and in the prevalence of overweight. Second, there is geographical variation in the prevalence of overweight. Third, the higher the mother's educational level, the lower the prevalence of overweight. Fourth, a positive correlation between maternal BMI and adolescents’ ΒΜΙ is recorded. Fifth, eating behaviour in which individuals report deliberately restricting their diet is associated with a higher likelihood of obesity. The nature of the data – a cross-sectional study - does not permit the identification of cause and effect, so the reason for dietary restriction is likely to be the high BMI.
These results suggest that more extensive information on the beneficial effects of health-promoting diets may reduce the prevalence of obesity.
Keywords:
Obesity, Urbanity, Adolescents, Eating behaviour
