OC33 – Young people’s eating behaviours in Vila Nova de Famalicão.

Theme: Nutrition Overweight and obesity are prevalent health problems among young people, with implications on wellbeing and health in adult life. A quantitative, descriptive and transversal study was performed to analyse the eating behaviours perception of adolescents from a school community in Vila Nova de Famalicão. A self-administered questionnaire was applied to 1,614 adolescents attending secondary and higher education in the academic year 2013/14, aged between 14-21 years. From the total participants, 56.9% were female and 86.5% attended secondary school. Results showed that 85.3% ate a variety of food, including animal origin products; 32.1% ate less than a daily portion of fruit; 10.8% did not eat vegetables and 13.1% did not drink milk. The food wheel shows that a significant percentage of young people does not have a balanced dietary plan.

Community nurses need to encourage youth to adopt a balanced diet.