Healthy behaviours and abdominal adiposity in adolescents from southern Italy

The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of meeting health recommendations on diet and physical activity (having breakfast, eating fruit and vegetables, consumption of milk/yoghurt, performing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, limiting television watching) and to assess junk snack food consumption in adolescents from southern Italy. The association between healthy behaviours and abdominal adiposity was also examined. Design In a cross-sectional protocol, anthropometric data were measured by trained operators while other data were collected through a structured interview. Setting Three high schools in Naples, Italy. Subjects A sample of 478 students, aged 14-17 years, was studied. Results The proportion of adolescents who met each of the health recommendations varied: 55·4 % had breakfast on ???6 d/week; 2·9 % ate ???5 servings of fruit and vegetables/d; 1·9 % had ???3 servings of milk/yoghurt daily; 13·6 % performed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for ???60 min/d; and 46·3 % watched television for