Abstract:

Healthy eating is particularly vital for young people as it determines their growth and cognitive development. However, the youth view own eating habits as a way of expressing themselves or getting freedom from parents. Accordingly, it seems essential to track any nutritional irregularities in that period of life as they may increase the risk of developing severe diseases.

To check young people’s eating habits, 916 questionnaires were distributed among the youth in 2016, out of which 807 were completed. The respondents − 414 girls (51.3%) and 393 boys (48.7%), aged 16-18, came Lublin Province, Poland, The questions were prepared by the Main Sanitary Inspectorate in Poland and validated by the authors.

In the course of research, three basic meals were analysed, i.e. breakfast, lunch, and supper. It was found that breakfast was eaten daily by 65% of the students, lunch − by 83%, and dinner − by 67%.

Daily products consumed during breakfast include mainly bread (60%), butter (51.0%) and cold meats (44.0%), whereas, in the category of drinks, these were tea (53.0%), milk (12.0%) and yoghurt (11.0%).

The family home turned out to be the primary place for eating breakfast (80.0%), followed by school (70%). There were also those who would not eat breakfast (10.0%).

As for lunch, the most popular dishes were poultry (40.6%), soups (33.1%) and red meat (22.1%), while the undesired included: soups (53.7%), offal (45.8%) and vegetables (28.3%). The group who consumed vegetables every day amounted to 44.0%, others, i.e. 47.0%, did it several times a week, and 9% less frequently. Similar proportions were found for fruit − 42%, 45% and 13%, respectively.

The most frequently consumed drinks during the day are juices (87.7%), followed by tea (81.5%) and mineral water (81.1%).

There were also young people who would admit to being hungry 5-7 days a week (as many as 11%), 13% of the surveyed would feel hungry 3-4 days a week, 28%, − 1-2 days or less often. 48% of the respondents would never experience hunger. Almost half of the students (48.9%) ate at night, mostly 1-2 times a week (12.8%), 3-4 times (8.4%), 5 and 7 times (4.0%).

The lack of self-control over food was associated with excessive consumption and was demonstrated by almost 25% of the youth, whereas as many as 20% feared weight gain.

There were no significant relationships between the number of consumed meals and students’ sexual life, age and place of residence (related to the number of inhabitants).

The obtained information about young people’s nutritional behaviours should be used in the didactic process at schools to popularise a healthy lifestyle.

Keywords:

School students, eating behaviours.