ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1592361
This article is part of the Research TopicFrom Adolescence to Adulthood: The Role of Diet in Preventing Metabolic and Mental Health DisordersView all 3 articles
Assessing the Dietary Habits and Nutritional Status of Secondary School Students in Kraków and the Myślenice District (2016-2017): Implications for Public Health
Provisionally accepted
Jaśmina Żwirska1
Ewa Błaszczyk-Bębenek1*
Izabela Bolesławska2
Pawel Jagielski1
Agnieszka Ostachowska-Gąsior1
Paweł Kawalec1- 1Department of Nutrition and Drug Research, Institute of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
- 2Department of Bromatology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
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Adolescence is a period of rapid growth and development, making proper nutrition essential for overall health and fitness, as well as proper physical and cognitive development. The aim of this study was to assess consumption patterns of everyday food, fast food, and snacks among adolescents aged 12-16 years, depending on sex and nutritional status. The survey was conducted in the Myślenice district (a second-level local government unit) and in Kraków, Poland, between 2016 and 2017. It included secondary school students aged 12-16. The survey of children after obtaining consent from parents was conducted based on the validated FFQ questionnaire.Anthropometric measurements included body weight, height, body fat percentage, and waist and hip circumference. Depending on the BMI value, the children were divided into 3 groups -underweight, overweight and obese, and with normal body weight. Significant differences in the frequency of fast food consumption and snacking were observed between boys and girls, depending on BMI. The more frequent consumption of whole meal bread by overweight and obese adolescents, along with their lower intake of foods high in simple sugars and fast food, may suggest conscious attempts to control their diet, reflecting changing eating habits among young people. In contrast, the higher fast food consumption among underweight girls, compared to other groups, may suggest a potential link between low body weight and a tendency to consume foods with low nutritional value. Special attention should be given to snacking habits, as they play a significant role in shaping young people's diet.
Keywords: dietary habits, Fast food products, nutrition, Nutritional Status, Secondary school students, snacking
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Żwirska, Błaszczyk-Bębenek, Bolesławska, Jagielski, Ostachowska-Gąsior and Kawalec. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ewa Błaszczyk-Bębenek, Department of Nutrition and Drug Research, Institute of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
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