SELECTED NUTRITIONAL BEHAVIORS AND THE LEVEL OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

The aim of the study was to assess selected nutritional behaviors and the level of physical activity of high school students in the West Pomeranian Voivodship. The research included questionnaires regarding the consumption of breakfast, detailing school days and weekends, the amount of vegetables, fruit, sweets and sugary drinks consumed, as well as questions about physical activity during school and extracurricular classes, intensity of exercises and participation of parents in joint sport. Anthropometric measurements were performed including: body weight, height, BMI, fat mass, lean mass, muscle mass. Body composition analysis was based on the bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA). There were many irregularities in the way students were eating: lack of breakfast, too little consumption of vegetables and fruits and frequent consumption of sweets and sugary drinks. Physical activity in the majority of students was at a correct level. Despite the nutritional mistakes made, the average BMI of the tested students was correct.


Introduction
The way we eat has a huge impact on our current state of health and has an impact on our condition in the future. Childhood and the period of early youth are the most appropriate period for shaping proper eating habits that ensure health, while mistakes made during this time bring negative effects in adulthood. In addition, the eating habits of children and youth are usually repeated in later life. Nutritional behaviors depend on a variety of aspects, i.e. economic, political, cultural, geographical, social and religious aspect (Ward-Begnoche, Gance--Cleveland, 2005;Jeżewska-Zychowicz, 2004). The habits of parents and carers, advertising of food products and current dietary fashions, fulfill an overriding role in the nutrition of children and adolescents. Developments in civilization have promoted changes in eating behaviors as well as in the whole lifestyle, resulting in a progressive #0# essential factor in normal physical, mental and social development (Knapik et al., 2004;Nosko, 1990;Riddoch, 1998;Żołnierczuk-Kieliszek, 2002).
The aim of the study was to analyze the eating habits and physical activity of high school students in cities of various sizes and check the composition of the body in relation to the diet.

Materials and methods
A diagnostic survey method was used and the students were asked about their eating habits and physical activity based in the questionnaire. Using the electrical bioimpedance method, a body composition analysis including body weight, BMI, fat mass, lean mass and muscle mass was performed. The student's body height was measured in accordance with the principles of anthropometry.

Findings
The study involved 3,537 high school students (Table 1) between 15 and 20 years of age (Table 3). The average age was 17 years (Figure 2). In the study group, 46.7% were girls and 53.5% boys ( Figure 1). Most of the students came from medium-sized towns (from 11,000 to 19,000 inhabitants). 23.95% were from towns up to 11,000 inhabitants, 23.10% from big cities from 20,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, and 23.66% from very big cities (over 50,000 inhabitants) (Table 2, Figure 3).

Selected Nutritional Behaviors and the Level of Physical Activity of High School Students
The questionnaire asked about eating habits -breakfast, the share of fruit and vegetables in the diet, consumption of sweets, and the physical activity practiced by the students and their parents.
When asked about breakfast, 15% of the students answered that they never eat breakfast on school days, 57.5% eat breakfast each day, and the remaining 27.5% eat 2-3 times within 5 days (Figure 4). At weekends, 9.3% of students do not eat breakfast, 81.6% always eat it, others only eat on Sunday (3.8%) or on Saturday (5.3%).  Every day, 23.3% of the students eat fruit, 11.3% of which more often than once a day, almost 15% eat fruit 5-6 times a week, and 42.8% eat fruit from 2 to 4 times a week. The group also included persons (12.8%) who eat fruit only once a week, and even less frequently (5.8%) ( Figure 5).  The data from Figure 6 shows that only 3.7% of students eat fresh vegetables more often than once a day, 6.6% eat one portion per day, 50.4% eat them 2-4 times a week, and 7.7% eat 5 to 6 times a week. A disturbing fact is that as many as 18.4% of the students eat fresh vegetables only once a week, and 13.1% less than once a week.  When asked about the frequency of consumption of sweets and sugary drinks (Figure 7), almost 20% of students declared every day, including 8.7% more than once a day, 42.1% eat sweets 2-4 times a week, and 13.8% eat them from 5 to 6 times a week. Only 14.2% of students eat sweets once a week. In the study group there were also students who consumed them less often than once a week (9%). Over half (50.2%) of the students eat sweets while at home (during homework and free time), others eat them mostly during school time (25.7%), and others both at school and at home (24.1%) ( Figure 8). The place of purchase of sweets for the majority of the students (53.2%) are shops on the way to school, 17.3% buy in school shops or use sweet machines, and for 29.6% of students, sweets are bought by the parents (Figure 9).    Almost 80% of students always participate in physical education classes, but 11.5% try to avoid this type of lesson, and 8.7% did not take part in such classes ( Figure 10).  In addition to school lessons, 41.8% of students participate in other forms of physical activity under the care of a trainer, and 83.2% practice various forms of physical activities outside school PE lessons (cycling, swimming, running, playing football, etc.) (Figures 11, 12).
Physical exercise of high intensity is practiced daily by 24.7% of the students, with 45% practicing several times a week (15.8% from 4 to 6 times, 30.5% from 2 to 3 times a week), 14.4% once a week, others once a month (6.0%), less frequently than once a month (4.4%) or never (4.2%) ( Figure 13). 10% of the students spend over 7 hours a week on exercise, 10.1% spend about 4-6 hours, and 24.1% spend about 2-3 hours. The largest number of students (27.3%) spend about an hour on additional physical activity, 16.6% less than an hour (about half an hour). As much as 11.4% do no exercise at all (Figure 14).   Over 45% of students never engage in physical activity with their parents, some only exercise from time to time with both parents (17.5%) or only with one of their parents (6.2% only with father, 6.4% only with mother). Only 12.7% of the students spend time doing physical activity together with their parents, 6.2% only with their mother and 5.7 only with their father (Figure 15).  The questionnaire also included questions about the physical activity of the parents of the students. The obtained answers indicate that both mother and father of over 50% of students engage in physical activity during the week (minimum once a week (2-3 times, 4-6 times a week or daily). Unfortunately, some parents only practice once a month, less than once a month or never (Figures 16, 17 Figure 17. Frequency of physical activities by the fathers of the students Source: own study.
Almost 30% of the students examined have a swimming card, 25% can swim (backstroke, any, classic style), 23% do not swim but can float and not sink. As many as 18% of students cannot swim and 4.7% are afraid of going into the water (Figure 18).  Thirty-seven percent of students would be interested in participating in a "WOPR Youth Team", acquiring the rights of a WOPR Junior Lifeguard and becoming a volunteer leader in the Team activities. 35% did not want to participate, while other students were undecided ("I do not know") ( Figure 19).  The average BMI of the students examined was 22.58 and did not differ significantly between the students from cities of different sizes. The highest mass and height was characteristic of students from very large cities, with the lowest fat mass and the highest fat-free and muscle mass (resulting in the highest body weight). Students from small, medium and large cities with a higher fat mass had a lower lean and muscle mass than students from very large cities (Figures 20,21,22,23,23,24,25 Figure 25. Muscle mass of students in particular districts, taking into account the number of inhabitants Source: own study.

Discussion
Proper nutrition that provides essential nutrients and the right amount of energy determines the appropriate body weight, proper growth and both physical and mental development of school-age children. Changes occurring during puberty cause an increase in interest in corporeality and external appearance, which may also contribute to various, not necessarily correct, dietary shifts. Incorrect nutrition increases the risk of developing many civilization diseases such as obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. The most common adolescent dietary irregularities include too few vegetables and fruits, milk and milk beverages, dark bread, with a high consumption of sweet drinks, sweets, and salty snacks. Nutritional mistakes made are associated with a low level of health education. Research carried out in various places in Poland show many mistakes in the diet of the adolescents examined.
In the presented study, a frequent dietary mistake was the lack of breakfast on school days, with the majority of breakfasts being on the days off school. Similar results were obtained by the 2010 HBSC research in which only 52.2% of high school students in Poland eat breakfast every school day, and as many as 26.6% do not eat breakfast at all. At the weekends, 82.8% of students declared eating breakfast. The results regarding the amount of vegetables and fruit consumed, as well as sweets and sugary drinks in both studies showed too little vegetables and fruits in the diet, with a high consumption of sweets and sugary drinks (Raport techniczny…).
Also, in studies conducted among students of Warsaw high schools (mainly from general schools), it was shown that the majority of students eat 3-4 meals a day, do not eat breakfast, and the vegetables in their diet are only in the dinner meal. A relationship between the number of meals and gender was shown. In the female diet, just 2 meals a day was more prevalent, while the boys more often consumed 6 meals or more during the day. In the study, 84% of students consumed snacks between meals (Czarniecka-Skubina, Namysław, 2008). Also, in the study conducted by E. Sikora, T. Leszczyńska and P. Szymański (2007), most students (85%) eat snacks between meals -mainly fruit, sandwiches and chips.
In studies carried out by I.M. Batyk (2012) as many as 5% of students consumed only one meal a day, 15% of students have two meals, 45% have breakfast, 25% have no breakfast. In the diet, 62.5% of students have a second breakfast, however, most often in the form of sweet rolls, sandwiches and sweets, which also indicates a high sugar intake by the students. Over half (65%) of the students eat snacks between meals. Of the students studied, as many as 56.5% eat fast-food products every day.
As a result of research carried out by M. Wojtaś and A. Kołłajtis-Dołowy (2011) it was found that the diet of high school students is not very varied, and most meals are sandwiches. As in the presented study, a low intake of vegetables, fruits and dairy products by the study group was demonstrated. Most of the students kept the right time between the last meal and the time of going to sleep. Only 40% of students declared eating breakfast every day. In spite of their normal weight, students chose diets with reduced caloric value (Wojtaś, Kołłajtis-Dołowy, 2011). This may be due to the fact that adolescents often have difficulty with a proper body weight assessment, describing it as abnormal (Kołoło, Woynarowska, 2004). Many national and European studies point out that perceiving your body weight as high may be the reason for different psychophysical problems (Ter Bogt et al., 2006) and uncontrolled transition to various diets and the belief in the necessity of their use (Kołoło, Woynarowska, 2004;Ojala, Tynjälä, Välimaa, Villberg, Kannas, 2012).
The research carried out on students of high schools in the Mazowieckie Voivodship shows that a large part of the surveyed youth skip meals and eat irregularly. Only 47% of students eat a minimum of 4 meals or more. The study discussed above yielded different results on vegetable consumption -only 2.6% of students do not eat them, 47.5% eat them often. Physical activity of the students was also examined and it was shown that almost half of the students show insufficient physical activity, and it is more often abandoned by girls. Only 25% of students participate in sports activities outside of school lessons (Saracen, 2010).
Analysis of selected nutritional behaviors of students from the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship showed that more than a half consume from 4 to 5 meals a day, about 1/3 of students eat only three or fewer meals, only ¾ of students eat dinner every day. As in the previously described studies, the majority of students (as much as 91.8%) declare snacking (Gajda, Jeżewska-Zychowicz, 2010).
The presented research in this paper and the analysis of other studies show that the nutrition of young people is often irrational and unsuitable for their developmental age.

Conclusion
1. Evaluation of the diet of the students showed a lot of irregularities in a significant number of adolescents, as indicated by skipping breakfast, too few fresh vegetables and fruits, and frequent consumption of sweets and sugary drinks.
2. Nutritional mistakes can be made by a lack of time on school days (eating breakfast for a much larger percentage of students on days off-school) and the availability of unhealthy products in the school shop (purchase of sweets in school shops).
3. Nutritional education for young people and intense health promotion in order to correct dietary mistakes and shape correct habits should be introduced. 4. Most students show adequate physical activity during school and outside school. A small percentage of people engage in physical activity together with their parents.
5. Despite the irregularities in eating habits, the average BMI of the tested students was correct.