FRIDAY, Jan. 26, 2007 (HealthDay News) -- Most American adolescents have exercise and diet habits that put their health at risk, according to a study in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Researchers analyzed the habits of nearly 900 children ages 11 to 15 and found that about 80 percent of them had multiple physical activity and dietary risk behaviors.
The children were assessed on four behaviors: physical activity, television viewing time, percent of calories from fat, and daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
The study found that 55 percent of the children didn't meet physical activity guidelines (boys 59 percent and girls 33.6 percent); 30 percent watched more than two hours of television a day; just 32 percent met recommendations for fat consumption; and only 11.9 percent ate enough fruits and vegetables.
Overall, only two percent of the children in the study met all four health guidelines.
The researchers also found evidence that parents' health behaviors had an effect on their children. For example, girls with parents who never smoked and ate the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables had fewer health risk behaviors. And the number of risk behaviors in parents was weakly but positively associated with a higher number of risk behaviors in boys.
"These findings contribute to the body of evidence that most adolescents fail to meet multiple diet and physical activity guidelines and continue to be in need of interventions that target multiple behaviors," study author Alvaro Sanchez said in a prepared statement.
"Although health promotion programs frequently target multiple behaviors, little is known about the best approaches to stimulating multiple behavior change. Further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of different strategies for promoting multiple behavior change in adolescence," Sanchez added.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers health tips for teens.
