The importance of nutrition and other elements of a healthy lifestyle in adolescents and the role of the nurse

Uvod: Skrb za zdravje mladostnikov je pomemben kazalec posamezne države. Zdravo prehranjevanje je posebej pomembno v obdobju odraščanja in dobra popotnica za zdravje v zrelejših letih. Mladostniki in študentje predstavljajo populacijo, pri kateri je potreben celovit pristop, ki pripomore k ohranjanju in krepitvi zdravja, ter spremembi neustreznega vedenja. Namen: Namen raziskave je bil dobiti vpogled v stanje življenjskega sloga mladostnikov ter opisati vlogo medicinske sestre. Z raziskavo smo želeli poleg prehrane podrobneje preučiti nekaj dejavnikov tveganja, ki se pojavljajo pri študentih in oblikujejo njihov življenjski slog. To so: kajenje, alkohol in gibanje. Metode dela: V teoretičnem delu je analizirana znanstvena in strokovna literatura na temo zdravega življenjskega sloga mladostnikov v podatkovnih bazah: PubMed, CINAHL, Medline Medscape, Digitalne knjižnice Univerze v Ljubljani ter vzajemnem bibliografskem katalogu slovenskih knjižnic COBISS.SI. Anketirali smo 160 študentov Zdravstvene fakultete. Kot instrument je bil uporabljen preverjen in testiran vprašalnik, prirejen po vprašalniku Z zdravjem povezan življenjski slog. Za analizo rezultatov smo uporabili program SPSS, s katerim smo prikazali opisno statistiko, Pearsonov hi-kvadrat za preverjanje povezanosti nominalne spremenljivke z drugo spremenljivko ter t-test neodvisnih vzorcev, s katerim smo preverjali statistično pomembne razlike v povprečjih pri izbranih spremenljivkah. Rezultati: Zbrani podatki so pokazali, da obstajajo določene statistično pomembne razlike med elementi, ki sestavljajo zdrav življenjski slog mladostnikov. Ugotovljene so bile nekatere razlike glede na letnik študija. Tako npr. pri kajenju (študenti tretjega letnika v povprečju kadijo več kot študentje prvega-p-vrednost 0,002) kot tudi pri pitju alkohola. Letnik študija vpliva na pogostost pitja alkohola (2 do 3-krat na teden pogosteje pijejo študenti tretjega letnika, 4-krat na teden ali pogosteje pa študentje prvega-p-vrednost 0,043). Ugotovljene so bile nekatere statistične razlike tudi glede na spol. Tako npr. pri prehranjevanju (ženske manjkrat večerjajo- izračunana p-vrednost 0,029), gibanju (ženske ob koncih tedna sedijo v povprečju več kot moški-izračunana p-vrednost je bila 0,044) in uživanju alkohola (moški 2 do 3-krat na teden ter 4-krat na teden ali pogosteje pijejo v povprečju več-p-vrednost 0,000). Razprava in sklep: Z raziskavo smo dokazali, da obstajajo nekatere razlike v elementih življenjskega sloga (prehrana, kajenje, telesna aktivnost, gibanje) med študenti glede na spol in glede na letnik študija. Pomembna naloga medicinske sestre in ostalih zdravstvenih delavcev, ki sodelujejo pri promociji zdravja, je, da mladostnike informirajo o različnih oblikah zdravega načina življenja.Introduction: Concern for the health of young people is an important indicator of a country. A healthy lifestyle is especially important in adolescence, and is a strong predictor of overall adult health outcomes. Youths and students represent the population, which requires a holistic approach that contributes to the preservation and strengthening of health and the change of inappropriate behaviour. Purpose: The aim of our study was to gain insight into the health status and lifestyle of adolescents along with the role of nurses in prevention and health promotion. The study overviews the lifestyle and risk factors that may affect adolescents’ health. These factors include smoking, unhealthy eating habits, alcohol abuse and lack of physical activity. Methods: A systematic literature research was conducted on healthy lifestyles of young people, using the databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Medline Medscape, Digital Library of the University of Ljubljana and shared bibliographic catalogue of Slovenian libraries COBISS.SI. The research sample consisted of 60 students of the Faculty of Health Sciences. A verified and tested questionnaire was used as a method of data collection, adapted from the questionnaire “Z zdravjem povezan življenjski slog”. The questionnaire was divided into six sections. Data management and analysis were performed using SPSS programme, which generated descriptive statistics, Pearson\u27s chi-square, verifying the relationship between nominal and other variables, and t-test of independent samples, which examined statistically significant differences in the averages of the chosen variables. Results: The research findings indicate that there are some significant differences among the components of a healthy lifestyle of young people. Certain age-related differences were identified. It was established that tobacco smoking and drinking prevalence rates are higher among the 3rd year students than among the 1st year students. The study identified also certain statistically significant gender-related differences in regards to eating habits (women more frequently skip dinner), physical activity (women are less physically active during weekends) and alcohol consumption (more frequent and higher consumption of alcohol by males has been identified). Discussion and conclusion: The research confirmed the findings of previous studies in regards to health risk factors among adolescents (diet, smoking, physical activity, exercise) in relation to gender and the year of study. An important task of nurses in health promotion is to inform young people about unhealthy lifestyle and the prevention of its harmful consequences thereof