Selected factors of lifestyle in relation to overweight in population of school-aged youth

The objective of this contribution is to present the selected factors of lifestyle (physical activity and leisure activities) in relationship to overweight in the population of school-aged youth in the region of Middle Slovakia. The data were collected in 25 elementary schools and two eight-year high schools in the Žilina and Banská Bystrica regions from May to June 2010. The group of respondents consisted of 1187 pupils in three age categories: 11-year-olds (313 respondents), 13-year-olds (442 respondents) and 15-year-olds (432 respondents). The standardized questionnaire created for the needs of HBSC study was used for data collection. The data collection also contained demographic data: sex, grade and age. The significant interaction of two variables was evaluated using a chi-quadrat test. There was no statistically significant correlation in physical activity found (physical activity during the previous 7 days: p = 0.065, exercise in free time – how many hours: p = 0.190), in watching television on weekdays (p = 0.504) between overweight children and normal-weight children. Overweight children watch television on weekend days longer than normal-weight children, the differences were statistically significant (p = 0.036). The results showed that would be beneficial to pay increased attention to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in children and adolescents in leisure activities in order to eliminate the time spent watching television.