Cross-Cultural Analysis of Physical Activity and Nutritional Habits in American and Turkish Children

The purpose of this study was to compare physical activity and nutritional habits in Turkish vs. American elementary school children. A total of 220 American and Turkish children who aged 9-11 years were included in the study. Student Health Assessment Questionnaire (SHAQ) was used to collect data. The normality of continuous variables was investigated by Shapiro-Wilk’s test and graphical assessments. Independent samples t-test was used for comparison of two normally distributed groups of continuous variables, while Pearson chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used for analysis of categorical variables p 0.05 was considered statistically significant. American children were determined to consume more red meat, snacks, cheese, milk, and candy (p 0.001), while Turkish children were determined to consume more cream chocolate, yogurt, juice, and water (p 0.005). American vs. Turkish children were more likely to participate in vigorous-intensity physical activity and sports teams(p 0.01), whereas attendance to weekly physical education classes was more common in Turkish vs. American children (p=0.005).The main reasons for physical inactivity and unhealthy nutritional habitswere reported to be insufficient time (48.2%), lack of friends (41.8%), and unhealthy nutritional habits in the family(27.3%) by the American children, and to be unsafe playgrounds (55.5%), lack of sports facilities (41.8%), and insufficient (45.5%) and expensive healthy food (37.3%) by the Turkish children. Meat, fat, and sugar consumption and physical activity rates were higher among American vs. Turkish children. Insufficient time and lack of friends in American children, and unsafe playgrounds and lack of sports facilities in Turkish children seem to affect participating in physical activity. Children from both countries found healthy food untasteful, while the impact of family on unhealthy nutritional habits has also been emphasized by American children and limited access to healthy and inexpensive food by Turkish children.