Evaluation of dietary habits and diet quality in a group of adolescents by using questionnaire (FFQ) and pro-Healthy Diet Index (pHDI-10)

Introduction and Objective. Mistakes in dietary behaviours are considered a major public health challenge, especially among youth populations that may be affected by long-term health complications in adulthood. The aim of this study was to evaluate some dietary habits and the quality of the diet related to health characteristics among adolescents living in southern Poland. Materials and method. A total of 381 adolescents aged 10-16 years were surveyed. The nutritional behaviours and diet of the participants were evaluated using questionnaire (FFQ) and the quality of the diet was evaluated from the aspect of intensity of the pro-health characteristics (pro-Healthy Diet Index -pHDI-10). Results. Half of the respondents consumed 4 meals a day and 26% snack mainly once a week. The structure of consumption of the foods most and least consumed was as follows: fruit (5.01.1), white bread (4.91.4), and butter (4.91.3) vs. legume seeds (2.51.2), fast-foods (2.51.1), and fish (2.81.0), respectively. Mineral water (5.01.4), tea (5.01.1) and fruit juice (4.41.3) were drunk the most frequently in the total group. Boys preferred white bread (p=0.0037), deli meat (p=0.0023), red meat (p=0.0039) and potatoes (p=0.0434) more frequently, compared to girls. Also, fizzy and non-fizzy (p=0.0001), cola type (p<0.0001) and energy drinks (p=0.0003) were also more likely to be drunk by boys. The pHDI-10 showed a low intensity of pro-health characteristics (pHDI-10) of the applied diet in nearly 80% of the respondents. Conclusions. Nutrition professionals should pay attention to the increase in pro-health products in the diet of adolescents. Gender differences in the influence of eating behaviour should also be considered to improve the effectiveness of this objective.