Defining the nutritional status and physical activity level of older adults makes it possible to guide them toward healthy lifestyles. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate dietary habits, nutritional status, and physical activity engagement in older adults living in the city of Manta, Manabí. Methods: An observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study of 130 older adults was conducted to determine nutritional status via anthropometry, self-reported frequency of the consumption of foodstuffs, calculation of the healthy eating index (IAS), and physical activity patterns. Results: Average age was 71.62 ± 4.34 years, whilst 83.07% of participants were at nutritional risk due to being overweight or obese. Dietary habits in males were characterized by the consumption of three meals a day, as well as greater intake of cereals, roots, tubers, and milk and its derivatives, whilst females consumed more fruits and vegetables. Meat was widely consumed, although females consumed more fish and seafood than males. Eggs were hugely popular foods, in contrast to legumes. Pasta was a dietary staple in females. Visible fats and luncheon meats were consumed little. IAS values reflected the “need to change”, whilst physical activity engagement was found to be low. Conclusions: The nutritional status of the present study population was characterized by a tendency toward increasing overweight, particularly amongst females, with the predominance of class 1 obesity, low physical activity, and a healthy eating index requiring change toward more healthy habits.

El propósito de la investigación es conocer y relacionar los resultados del autoconcepto físico, con diferentes tipos de ansiedad y el IMC en los estudiantes de enfermería y educación física dela península de Yucatán (México). La muestra estuvo formada por 264 participantes, de los cuales 91 eran varones y 173 mujeres, con edades comprendidas entre 18 y 25 años. Nuestros datos revelan que en el autoconcepto físico, los valores obtenidos por los estudiantes de educación física son superiores al de los estudiantes de enfermería. Los estudiantes de enfermería presentan mayores valores de ansiedad estado que los de educación física. La percepción que tienen los estudiantes de ciclos superiores en prácticamente todas las dimensiones del autoconcepto es superior a la del alumnado de ciclos inferiores. Los niveles de ansiedad disminuyen conforme pasan de ciclos inferiores a superiores. PALABRAS CLAVE: Autoconcepto físico, ansiedad, obesidad, educación física, enfermería ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to know and relate the results of the various dimensions formed by the physical self-concept with respect to the different types of anxiety and the BMI among nursing and physical education students in the area of the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico. The study is based on a sample of 264 people, being 91 men and 173 women between the ages of 18 and 25. The outcome shows that the values obtained by physical education students are higher than those obtained by nursing students regarding the physical self-concept. Nursing students present a higher level of anxiety compared to physical education students. The perception showed by junior and senior students with regard to almost all dimensions of self-concept is higher than that of freshmen and sophomore students. Anxiety level among students decreases throughout the years. KEY WORDS: Physical self-concept; anxiety; obesity; Physical education; Nursing

Introduction and objectives (1): It is currently important to be able to establish logical plans for physical work and/or nutrition aimed at achieving optimal levels of performance and wellbeing. To achieve this, it is crucial to understand anthropometric data and how they relate to body type and, above all, how they associate with parameters linked to health. The present study, therefore, proposed to examine intersexual morphological differences and to determine the existing relationship between somatotype and BMI in a sample of school sports players from Huacho (Peru). Material and methods (2): A descriptive, comparative, correlational, and transversal study was delivered within a sample of 294 students (165 males and 129 females). Participants were aged between 12–16 years and regularly participated in team sports at competitive school level. All participants took part in the anthropometric examination in order to determine their somatotype and body mass index (BMI). Results (3): Significant differences were found to exist between the sexes in practically all of the anthropometric measures. The data demonstrated a high index of overweight and obesity. Further, the zones of occupation of the somatochart for both populations showed a displacement towards endomorphism, and that the level of typological similarity between populations was 30.54%. Conclusions (4): Results indicate a serious need for training so that adolescent students acquire healthy habits and lifestyles.

Background: Variations in physical activity greatly affect total energy expenditure, and therefore its examination contributes to the prevention of systemic disease. We sought to evaluate energy expenditure and physical activity within a university population from the coastal region of Ecuador. Methods: A descriptive and observational research study was developed to compare 1038 university students. Weight, height, resting metabolic rate and estimated energy needs were estimated. A 24 h recall questionnaire was administered to examine the relationship between total energy expenditure and physical activity. The “IPAQ” (international physical activity questionnaire) was employed to classify the type of physical activity performed and weekly metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes were calculated. Results: Male and female participants showed total energy expenditures of 2571.26 ± 321.26 and 1924.75 ± 112.78 kcal/day, respectively, with resting metabolic rates of 1864.12 ± 206.67 and 1373.96 ± 178.28 kcal/day, respectively. A total of 81.88% of the population reported being sedentary. With regards to time distribution between activities, insignificant time was dedicated to sport and health-related activities. Weekly MET minute expenditure was classified as low in 45.37% of individuals, moderate in 52.2%, and high in 3% of individuals. Conclusions: We conclude that the studied population led a notably sedentary lifestyle, which was contingent on voluntary behavioural states including the avoidance of certain exercises. Such tendencies are harmful to health.

(1) Background: Abdominal obesity describes the accumulation of visceral fat. Monitoring of abdominal obesity in children aids prognosis of atherogenic risk and prediction of the emergence of different comorbidities, many of which persist into and throughout adulthood. For this reason, it is of great diagnostic value to the sustainability of health in populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate abdominal obesity in overweight schoolchildren from Portoviejo (Ecuador) and propose conicity index cut-points for sustainable health. (2) Methods: The sample was formed by 356 schoolchildren whose BMI z-score deemed them to be overweight. Height, weight, waist circumference (wstC), various skinfolds, percent body fat, conicity index (CI) and overweight classification according to wstC were determined. (3) Results: The mean age was 6.83 ± 1.2 years, 17.4% were obese, 34.8% were overweight and 47.8% were at risk of being overweight according to their BMI z-score. The mean height was 1.29 ± 0.12 m, whilst the mean weight was 35.21 ± 11.57 kg. When classifying according to wstC, 37.9% were identified as obese, 28.1% had high-risk abdominal adiposity and 34% were normal. The average CI was 1.16 ± 0.06, whilst that of body fat was 19.34 ± 6.03, with 56.2% of individuals having body fat values lower than 20%. (4) Conclusions: The sample showed a high prevalence of central obesity. Significant agreement was not found between classifications of nutritional status according to BMI z-score and wstC.