Children's Perceptions of Healthful Eating and Physical Activity

Children's Perceptions of Healthful Eating and Physical Activity

Nutrition is a widely discussed topic in today's age and time. Many people are trying to become more conscious of the foods they are consuming for the obvious reason of maintaining the best health possible. It is agreed that nutrition plays a vital role in the health of an individual, and making the best food choices may sometimes be rather difficult. However, there is a solution to the problem, and that is becoming aware of healthful foods oppose to Junk foods at a younger age. This is important to the Health Promotion of individuals because more than likely being exposed to healthier foods as a child will help the individual make better food choices at an older age of adulthood. (Penner, 2010).

This article raises the question of nutrition in children or adolescents. It looks at what children deem as healthful eating and their perceptions of healthy food. The article also emphasizes the importance of physical activity and if children perceive physical activity as a way to prevent obesity as well as eating healthy. The article states that eating healthy and being active allows children to maintain a higher self esteem, superior socialization skill as well as the prevention of adult-onset chonic diseases. (Penner, 2010). This article provides reaseach on adolescents age 11-12 years old, both male and female, 23 boys and 22 girls. During this research these boys and girls were interviewed and asked about their idea of health, what it means to them, if eating healthier is easier than physical activity, what would make it

NUTRITON AND OBESITY AMONG ADOLESCENTS 3

easier to eat healthy, and where have they learned the most about food. From these interviews many children realized that healthy eating consisted of alot of fruits and vegetables and less sugary snacks. Many of the children realized that eating healthy would promote better lifestyles of heath for them, but were plagued with the idea that eating junk foods were so good; good in the fact that these foods tasted better to them. The children also looked at junk foods as a reward food during social interactions or physical activity. The children also felt that physical activity was a lot easier for them to maintain rather then worrying about if they were eating healthy or not. The children also stated that many of them learned about foods and nutrition at home or in school.

The study showed that girls compared to boys showed more interest in eating healthy foods than the boys did. The girls were more concerned with feelings of guilt after eating a high fat or high sugar food oppose to boys. The girls commented that