Behaviour and health : a cross-sectional study between a basic teaching school and a professional school

Abstract

The feeding habits acquired during childhood and adolescence have important implications on the health state of individuals and their physical and emotional well-being. According to WHO (1993), one of the most serious problems that young people face is the excessive consumption of certain types of food that are less healthy. On the other side, physical activity contributes for the reduction of cardiovascular risk diseases (Ogden, 2004). We expect the study to contribute for the reduction of risk behaviours that are more and more threatening teenagers' health, and could encourage young people to keep high levels of health habits. The purpose of the study was to investigate the life-style of a sample of young students and target the following specific objectives: (i) to identify their feeding habits; (ii) to identify their leisure activities; (iii) to classify the type of their physical activity; (iv) to investigate their tobacco consumption, alcoholic drinking, illegal drugs consumption and sexual behaviour; and (v) to identify issues that should be dealt with in health education. Results gave some insights about the youth needs to improve their life-styles, which will be incorporated in teachers’ training programmes.