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Background/Objectives: According to the COM-B model of behaviour, three factors are

AimHealthy habits are influenced by several factors such as geographical location. The aims of this study were to describe and compare healthy habits within two populations of sixth-grade primary school children (aged 11–12 years) from northern and southern Spain.Subjects and methodsA cross-sectional study using two representative samples of school children was conducted. Participants came from Logroño (n = 329) in the north and Granada (n = 284) in the south of Spain. Socio-demographic and anthropometric variables, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, aerobic fitness, and healthy lifestyles were recorded.ResultsBoys reported a higher level of physical activity and aerobic fitness than girls (p = 0.000). Southern school children reported significantly higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet (♀: p = 0.041; ♂: p = 0.008), lower aerobic fitness (♀: p = 0.000; ♂: p = 0.042) and hours of nightly sleep (♀: p = 0.008, ♂: p = 0.007) than northern school children. Southern boys also reported lower levels of physical activity (p = 0.013). There were slight or moderate correlations among all habits measured (physical activity, diet, screen and sleep time). Additionally, the physical activity level was inversely related to weight status. Overweight and obese northern boys reported less physical activity than healthy-weight northern boys (p = 0.020) and overweight and obese southern girls reported less physical activity than healthy-weight southern girls (p = 0.024).ConclusionsResults showed differences in physical activity, eating and sleep habits, and aerobic fitness according to geographical location. The relationships found among lifestyle habits indicate the need for health promotion interventions nationally and considering the differences discussed here.

The aim of the present study was to describe Mediterranean diet adherence within a population of adolescents and to analyse the association of multiple factors with adherence. This included a consideration of diverse physical and mental health indicators. The present study was conducted with a representative sample of 761 adolescents (14.51 ± 1.63 years) from 25 educational centres in a northern region of Spain. Mediterranean diet adherence was evaluated, alongside their health-related quality of life, self-esteem, body image satisfaction, body mass index, physical activity level, maximum oxygen consumption, hours of nightly sleep, sociodemographic factors and academic performance. Forty-nine percent of the adolescent population reported high Mediterranean diet adherence. The female gender and higher levels of physical activity were found to be predictive factors of adherence to the Mediterranean diet. In addition, maximum oxygen consumption, the presence of environments favourable towards physical activity engagement and higher self-esteem were also predictive in females, whilst better academic performance and more nightly sleep were additional predictors in males. The associations found between Mediterranean diet, and other health indicators and habits, highlight the need to develop promotion strategies from an inter-disciplinary and transversal standpoint.

Influencia del sexo y el tipo de escuela sobre los índices de sobrepeso y obesidad Introducción: el sobrepeso y la obesidad infantiles han pasado a ser, en las últimas décadas, una epidemia que afecta especialmente a los países desarrollados. Cada vez son más las repercusiones negativas sobre la salud que tienen relación con la obesidad infantil. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar las prevalencias de sobrepeso y obesidad de una ciudad del norte de España, así como identificar los factores que influyen en la misma y la relación existente con la tensión arterial. Material y métodos:el estudio se llevó a cabo sobre una muestra representativa compuesta por 329 escolares de sexto curso de primaria (11-12 años) de la ciudad de Logroño (La Rioja, España). Se obtuvieron datos sociodemográficos, tensión arterial, desarrollo madurativo, índice de masa corporal, perí-metros de cadera y cintura, y pliegues de tríceps y subescapular.Resultados: en todas las medidas antropométricas se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los normopesos y los sobrepesos/obesos. Las prevalencias de sobrepeso y obesidad, según referencias internacionales, fueron del 23,7 y el 3,3%, respectivamente. Estas prevalencias fueron mayores en niños y en alumnos de las escuelas públicas. Se encontraron relaciones significativas entre las variables antropométricas y la tensión arterial, tanto sistólica como diastólica.Conclusiones: los índices de sobrepeso y obesidad fueron similares a los del conjunto de la nación, siendo los casos con mayor prevalencia los de alumnos de sexo masculino y los escolarizados en centros públicos.Introduction: child overweight and obesity have become, in recent decades, an epidemic that affects developed countries in particular. Many increasingly negative health impacts are related to childhood obesity. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obese people in a city of northern Spain, and to identify the factors that influence this prevalence and its relationship with blood pressure.

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