Description
Background
The characteristics and conditions of growth and development have made adolescence one of the most vital and influential ages for prevention and health promotion, especially in the time of electronic age.
Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to many health issues. Many studies have documented low health awareness and many health-related issues in adolescents. Furthermore, there is insufficient data on health-risk behaviors of school students in Gaza Strip.
Accordingly, the aim of this study was to determine adolescent health information as well as their behavior related to diet and physical activity during their daily routine.
Methods
A cross-sectional, quantitative, administered questionnaire was conducted among high school students between 15 to 18 years of age studying at governmental schools in Gaza Strip during the year 2021/2022. The study aimed to determine adolescent health status as well as their behavior related to diet, psychosocial status and physical activity during their daily routine at governmental schools in Gaza Strip. The sample was 700 students and the sampling were convenient. The questionnaire assessed health awareness and behavior related to (a) exercise and nutrition; (b) BMI and obesity; (c) Psychosocial status. The data collection was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by SPSS program.
Finding
Among the 700 surveyed students, the overall response rate of survey was 86.3%.
Out of 604 students, 56% were females and 44% were males.
The showed that 20.20% were underweight, 65.1% were normal, 12.20% were overweight and 2.50% were obese. While 81.30% of females were experienced sedentary life compared to 42.10% of males, and 9.30% of females experienced active life compared to 45.70% of males.
The study revealed that Female participants had more severe mental status than males (P<0.001), and high levels of depression, stress and anxiety were more prevalent among poor socioeconomic participants (P= 0.035). Nutritional status didn’t seem to statistically significant with either gender (P= 0.13), geographic region (0.064) or economic status (P=0.31).
Conclusion
• This is an important study in Gaza Strip to evaluate healthy behavior &health status among high school students.
• Study results showed that most participants had normal BMI despite sedentary lifestyle among participants.
• Mental health among study participants was good according to their assessment based on DASS-21 scale.
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