Level of physical activity and nutritional status: a cross sectional study among adolescent boys in north India

Objective: To determine the level of physical activity and nutritional status of adolescent boys aged 15-19 years at Dadu Majra Colony, Chandigarh. Methods: Cross-sectional study was done to interview 301 study subjects. Systematic random sampling was used in this study. Interview schedule was prepared from HEEADSS assessment tool for adolescents and following domains such as nutrition and activity were taken under for the study. Results: Some of the adolescent boys spent time for regular exercise (39%) but others were having sedentary activities for > 3hours/day such as spending time in mobile phones (26.7%), computer (9.6%), television (27.6%), etc. They ate fruits (21.9%) and vegetables (73.4%) for all the days in a week but more than half of subjects reported that they attended parties with frequent intake of junk foods. Most of them were having healthy weight (75.7%). Conclusion: More than half of the adolescent boys followed sedentary activities such as prolonged sitting in front of television, with computer and with mobile phones without any regular exercises or participation in sports. They ate junk foods without following a proper balanced diet. Some of the boys were underweight.