THE IMPACT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND EATING HABITS ON OVERWEIGHT IN SCHOOL CHILDREN

Zdrava prehrana in redna telesna aktivnost sta ključna dejavnika pri preprečevanju prekomerne telesne teže oziroma debelosti šolskih otrok. Število pretežkih ljudi konstantno narašča, strmo pa se dviguje tudi stopnja prekomerne prehranjenosti otrok in mladostnikov. Prehranjenost oziroma debelost, ki s seboj prinese številne zdravstvene probleme v vseh življenjskih obdobjih, je postala bolezen sodobnega časa. Ključno nalogo pri preprečevanju prekomerne teže otrok oziroma mladostnikov imajo njihovi starši, velik pomen pa ima tudi medicinska sestra, ki s svojo preventivno vlogo v okviru zdravstveno-vzgojnega izobraževanja poučuje otroke o zdravem načinu življenja, o pomenu pravilnega načina prehranjevanja ter telesne aktivnosti. Raziskovalna metodologija. V raziskavi je bila uporabljena kvantitativna metodologija, kot raziskovalni instrument smo uporabili anketni vprašalnik. Kvantitativne podatke smo statistično obdelali in jih ponazorili v obliki frekvenčnih tabel in grafikonov. Rezultati. Primestni otroci so v povprečju za 5,5 kilograma težji od mestnih. Večina anketirancev na splošno ve, kaj pomeni zdrava prehrana, ne zavedajo pa se povsem smernic zdravega prehranjevanja. Vzroki debelosti učencem niso povsem jasni, saj obstajajo tudi dedni in okoljski dejavniki, ki vplivajo na nastanek debelosti, ne samo lenost in prevelike količine hrane. V povprečju so anketiranci redno telesno dejavni, tako v šoli kot izven nje. Starši so bolj telesno dejavni v mestnem kot v primestnem okolju. Razprava in sklep. Na splošno se ljudje vseh starosti premalo zavedamo, kakšen vpliv ima prehrana na naš organizem. Zdrav način prehranjevanja je naučen, kar pomeni, da so starši najpomembnejši dejavnik, ki otroku s pravilnimi napotki pomagajo k zdravemu načinu ali pa mu z nepravilnim škodijo. Enako je pri telesni dejavnosti. Dojemanje športa kot vrednote je potrebno poosebiti znotraj družine. Potrebno bo še veliko izobraževanja tako mladih kot odraslih, da bomo preprečili negativne obete vse večje prehranjenosti populacije, ki nam pretijo.Healthy diet and physical activity are the main factors at the prevention of overweight or obese school children. The number of overweight people and the level of excessive nutritional conditions among children and adolescents, is growing constantly. Obesity brings along various health problems and has become the disease of the modern. The key role in prevention of overweight and obese children, represent their parents and secondly, we have to emphasize the role of nurse, with her preventive role and teaching children and adolescents about the importance of healthy lifestyle, healthy diet and physical activity. Research methodology. We used quantitative methodology. The research instrument was questionnaire. Quantitative data were statistically evaluated and exemplified with frequency tables and graphs. Results. In average, suburban children are 5,5 kilograms lighter then the city children. Most of the respondents know what healthy diet is, but they do not know the guidelines of healthy eating and the causes of obesity, which are, beside laziness and overeating, hereditary and environmental factors. Students are active in and out of school, their parents are more active in urban than in suburban environment. Discussion and conclusion. Generally people do not know the impact that food has on our organism. Healthy eating habits are learned, which means that the parents are the most important factor to teach their children the right way of eating and help them to live a healthy life. The same thing is with physical activity, it has to be incarnated within the family. It will take a lot of education of young and adult people to prevent negative prospects of increasing nutritional status of the population