Investigation of obesity, eating behaviors and physical activity levels living in rural and urban areas during the covid-19 pandemic era: a study of Turkish adolescent

Abstract

Background The purpose of this study was to determine the eating behaviors, obesity and physical activity status of children of similar ages living in rural and urban areas and to examine these relationships during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic process. Method The research was conducted using the scanning model. The research group consists of children living in rural and urban areas in Turkey. The sample of the study consists of a total of 733 adolescent participants, 351 females (47.9%) and 382 males (52.1%). After anthropometric measurements were made, the Physical Activity Questionnaire for older children and the Yale Food Addiction Scale for children 2.0 were used to determine the food addiction and physical activity status of children during the COVID19 pandemic process. Since the groups were homogeneously distributed, independent samples t-test and Pearson correlation test were used. Result In terms of food addiction and physical activity levels, children living in the urban have higher scores than children living in rural areas. In addition, children living in the urban were taller and have higher body mass values than those in rural areas. In terms of physical activity level and food addiction levels, while girls living in the urban had higher activity levels than those living in rural areas, no statistically significant difference was found between the physical activity levels of boys. When evaluated in terms of general and gender, it was determined that children living in rural areas were overweight and obese at a higher rate. Obese children had higher levels of food addiction and lower physical activity levels than non-obese children. Conclusion In order to prevent childhood obesity, the level of food addiction should be reduced as well as increasing the level of physical activity. This study is limited in terms of cross-sectional evaluation. Future research can experimentally reveal how much obesity is reduced by methods such as exercise and diet interventions.

Exploring obesity, physical activity, and digital game addiction levels among adolescents: A study on machine learning-based prediction of digital game addiction

“…It may also be that game addiction triggers a sedentary life. Another study found that obese children had lower physical activity levels than children with normal BMI (Gülü et al, 2022). Along with regular physical activity during the developmental period of the child, access to healthy food and proper nutrition is probably important determinants in the development of the physical structure of each child, in line with their genetic potential (Hills et al, 2007;Sallis and Glanz, 2009).…”

“…In addition, physical activity may differ depending on the region of residence. As a matter of fact, a study found that physical activity differs between rural and urban children (Gülü et al, 2022).…”

“…Both inactive lifestyle and poor eating habits are thought to be among the leading causes of overweight and obesity prevalence (Stevens et al, 2012). In a similar study, it was found that obese children had higher levels of food addiction and lower physical activity levels than non-obese children (Gülü et al, 2022). Although efforts to prevent obesity have increased in the last two decades worldwide, these efforts have not been enough to prevent the increase in obesity in children (Brown et al, 2019).…”

Is early or late biological maturation trigger obesity? A machine learning modeling research in Turkey boys and girls

“…Accordingly, high estradiol levels are associated with precocious puberty ( 49 ). In reality, the complicated etiology of obesity is influenced by a variety of variables, including biological, behavioral, environmental, physical activity and genetic ones ( 8 , 50 ). A wide range of exercise-related health advantages may be promoted by studying the lipidomic profile, which enables complicated biological processes to be adjusted more efficiently in the context of exercise ( 51 ).…”

“…The overall prevalence rates of overweight/obesity and obesity in Azores adolescents were 31 and 27%, respectively ( 7 ). In a study conducted with adolescents in Turkey, the prevalence rate of overweight was found to be 18.2% ( 8 ).…”