Eating habits and behaviors, physical activity, nutritional and food safety knowledge and beliefs in an adolescent italian population

Objective: The present study evaluates eating habits and behaviors, and nutritional and food safety knowledge of a group of Italian adolescents. Design: A dietary questionnaire previously constructed and tested was self-administered during school time. Each section was evaluated using a separate score. Setting: The study was carried out as a part of a nutritional surveillance project in the Aosta Valley Region, Northern Italy. Subjects: Five hundred and thirty-two adolescent subjects, aged 15.4 _ 0.7 years, attending the second year of secondary schools participated in the study. Measures: We evaluated eating habits, physical activity, meaning of healthy and unhealthy dietary habits and food, self-efficacy, barriers affecting healthy food choices, nutritional and food safety, weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI). Results: Only 37.0% of the sample have satisfactory eating habits; 18.5% have a very active lifestyle; only 8.6% have quite good nutritional knowledge, 2.4% have satisfactory food safety knowledge, although 43.7% have good hygiene practices. Conclusions: The results point out unhealthy behaviors influencing adolescents’ eating habits and suggest which of these must be considered in order to develop tailored nutrition interventions, improving adolescents’ consciousness aimed at adopting a healthy lifestyle.