Introduction:

obesity in the adolescence represents an unfavorable phenomenon having negative incidence in the health condition of the individual.

Objective:

to assess the nutritional status of adolescents at Luis Augusto Turcios Lima University Polyclinic during 2018.

Methods:

an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted with adolescents from Luis Augusto Turcios Lima University Polyclinic during 2018. The target group was comprised of 105 patients between 11 and 19 years old, working with them all. To determine the independence among the variables, chi-squared test was applied.

Results:

female sex predominated (51,42 %), with normo-weight patients according to the nutritional assessment (71,43 %) and adiposity index (43,81 %). An association between the adiposity index and sex was found (X2=16,798 p<0,05), where being from female sex appeared to be as a protector factor (RR: 0,44 IC: 0,25-0,77); finding a predominance of sedentary patients (91,43 %) who presented high risks to be overweight or obese (RR: 1,10 IC: 1,049-1,18). The 100 % showed bad nutritional habits and they referred to use the new information technologies for more than four hours a day.

Conclusions:

the majority of the adolescents presented normal indexes of weight; however, it was found a higher incidence of overweight in male sex. Sedentary lifestyle and the lack of physical exercises, along with the immoderate use of the new information technologies, present a high incidence in adolescents, having a negative repercussion on body mass index.

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