The Relationship between Snack Consumption Patterns and Nutritional Status in Adolescents in Malang City Indonesia

Abstract

The consumption of snacks is often done between meals. About 20% of the daily intake of adolescents comes from snacks. Snacks contribute‘empty’ energy but provide an excess intake of substances that are not beneficial to the teenager’s body. This study aims to determine the pattern of snack consumption and nutritional status of adolescents in Malang City. This study used a cross-sectional approach to determine the relationship between snack consumption patterns and nutritional status in adolescent in Malang City. The population of this study consisted of 128 high school students (aged 15-18 years) who were selected using the multistage random sampling method ( a combination of the cluster method and simple random sampling) from July-September 2015. Respondents who experiences poor nutritional status were 40 pople (8,6%) and overweight as many as 88 people (19%). Respondents who consumed snacks as much as 3-4x/week showed less nutritional status 14people (35%) and overweight 35 people (39,8%). This study concludeds that the frequency of snack consumption affects the nutritional status of underweight and overweight in adolescents aged 15-18 years in Malang City