Abstract
According to the WHO, one in every five people in the world is an adolescent, and 85% of them live in developing countries. Many boys and girls enter adolescence are malnourished can expose them later, to many complications and especially to chronic diseases. The importance of this period of life, when the growth reaches its maximum, it led us to assess the nutritional status of a group of adolescents and focus on their daily nutritional intake.
The aim of our study, which took place at the “Djilali Liabès University” exactly in Sidi-Bel-Abbès City, on 250 healthy adolescents (49.6% girls and 50.4% boys) aged between 17 and 22 years old, was to discuss the impact of eating habits change of adolescent.
During our enquiry, anthropometric data, questionnaires, and the 24 hours dietary recall were used and collected on all the adolescents to evaluate the dietary habits. The USDA’s nutrient database was used for our NUTRINUX ® program in order to perform the nutrient accounts.
Results showed that the overweight among boys is more important than girls (p inf 0.0001) because 69% of girls skip a meal to control their weight. An excess in sugars was noticed among girls, and fats were overtaken by boys. However, the protein consumption agreed with nutritional recommendations. A calcium deficiency was found which can probably present a risk for our girls later.
Finally, the eating habits change of adolescents has a great impact and many serious consequences that can affect their health in short and long term.
Keys words: adolescent, eating, eating habit, enquiry, girls, boys.
