Use of latent class analysis as a method of assessing the physical activity level, sedentary behavior and nutritional habit in the adolescents’ lifestyle: A scoping review

Background Currently, adolescents’ lifestyle is commonly characterized by physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, and inappropriate eating habits in general. A person-oriented approach as Latent Class Analysis (LCA) can offer more insight than a variable-centered approach when investigating lifestyle practices, habits, and behaviors of adolescent population. Objective The aim of the present study was to assess which variables are mostly used to represent the physical activity level, sedentary behavior SB) and nutritional habit in the adolescents’ lifestyle in studies that used the LCA. Design Scoping review. Methods The study was a performed in accordance with the proposed criteria for systematic reviews and meta-analyses—Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018108444). The original articles were searched in MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and SPORTdiscus. The Quality Assessment Tool analyzed the risk of bias of the included studies. Results 30 original articles were selected. The physical activity level (28 studies), SB and nutritional habits (18 studies) were the most common variable used to evaluate the adolescent’s lifestyle by LCA model. Specifically, physical inactivity and high SB were the manifest variables with higher frequency in the negative latent classes (LCs) in adolescent girls. On the other hand, physical exercises and sports were activities more commonly labeled as positive LCs. Conclusions The LCA models of the most of selected studies showed that physical inactivity, high SB were the most common in the LCs with negative characteristics of the adolescents’ lifestyle. Better understanding the results of analyzes of clusters of multivariate behaviors such as the LCA can help to create more effective strategies that can make the lifestyle of adolescents healthier.

Turkish food culture and nutrition habits in the development of history

Since the existence of mankind, nutrition is one of the necessities to maintain their vital activities. Nutritional habit, a physiological movement, has progressed in parallel with the development of living conditions of mankind. This instinctive behaviour has started with gathering in the nature originally. People have found edible foods by distinguishing the harmful plants in the nature. Mankind, who had learned cooking with the invention of fire, has discovered foodstuffs that can be obtained from animals in time. Due to this discovery, they had an opportunity to try different flavours and supply a greater variety of needed macro components of their body such as proteins, vitamins and essential oils etc. This nutrition diversity has brought with the taste phenomenon. The major reasons of consumed food variety are the climate of the region they live in, the condition of nature and the kinds of vegetables, fruits, grains that grow in these regions. Furthermore, it is inevitable that the diversity of animals living in the region causes food diversity. This situation, which is the result of ecological balance, has been one of the main causes of cultural differences between societies over time. The culinary culture has been seperated by geographical regions over time and a sub-culture called "regional dishes" has formed. Until today, mankind have developed new tastes by experimenting with many food preparation and cooking techniques. In this study, the development of Turkish food culture and nutrition habits throughout the history have been reviewed.

Greek Consumers’ Behaviour Towards Fast-Food Consumption

Fast food has become a very popular nutritional habit for consumers and a billion dollars market for businesses across the world. As in most countries, in Greece there are thousands of fast food businesses that aim at satisfying the growing demand for fast food. However, there is lack of research about the behaviour of Greek consumers regarding fast food consumption. On this context, the goal of this research was to investigatethe frequency of consumption in Greece, the most popular types of fast food, the criteria with which consumers make consumption decisions and the environmental, economical, ethical, cultural and psychological factors that influence their buying behaviours. The results of the research show wide popularity of fast food consumption among Greek consumers and a clear trend towards healthy, tasty, easily accessible and not necessarily low-cost fast food.