Physical activity and pocket money as determinants of BMI and food purchases in school tuck shops and outside school among students aged 7-18 years
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12923/pielxxiw-2026-0027Keywords:
children, BMI, nutrition, adolescents, school tuck shopAbstract
Aim. The study aimed to examine the relationship between food purchases in and outside school tuck shops and BMI in students aged 7-18 in Bielsko-Biała, as well as the influence of weekly physical activity and pocket money on BMI.
Material and methods. The study on the purchase of food products was conducted using a proprietary questionnaire among 290 boys, 328 girls aged 7 to 18 years.
Results. Incorrect body mass was noted in 26.4% of the study participants, wherein excessive body mass occurred four times as often among the participants as insufficient body mass. The analysis showed that pupils purchased buns, sandwiches and water several times a day, both inside and outside school. The analysis of all the food products purchased by pupils showed that children made purchases outside school statistically significantly more often than at school.
Conclusions. Students purchase chips and chocolate bars more frequently outside of school than within school premises. They also buy products outside of school that are not available in the school’s offerings. Students’ physical activity, limited mainly to mandatory physical education classes, showed no significant association with BMI. BMI values are influenced by the amount of pocket money received by students.
References
1. Child and Adolescent Health and Development Program (WHO Europe). 2024. https://gateway.euro.who.int/en/datasets/cah/ (access 20.12.2024).
2. Kim K, Hong SA, Yun SH, et al. The effect of a healthy school tuck shop program on the access of students to healthy foods. Nutr. Res. Pract. 2012;6(2):138-145. https://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2012.6.2.138
3. Buru K, Emeto TI, Malau-Aduli AEO, et al. Australian school stakeholders’ perceived strategies for preventing adolescent obesity. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2021;18(17):9387. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/9387
4. Szymandera-Buszka K, Waszkowiak K, Jędrusek-Golińska A, et al. The evaluation of food assortment in school shops of Poznan. Probl. Hig. Epidemiol 2010;91(4):628¬631.
5. Micha R, Karageorgou D, Bakogianni I, et al. Effectiveness of school food environment policies on children’s dietary behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 2018;13(3):e0194555. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194555
6. Bekker F, Marais M, Koen N. The provision of healthy food in a school tuck shop: does it influence primary-school students’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards healthy eating? Public Health Nutr. 2017;20(7):1257-1266. https://doi.org/10.1017/S13689800160034 87
7. O’Halloran SA, Eksteen G, Polayya N, et al. The food environment of primary school learners in a low-to-middle-income area in Cape Town, South Africa. Nutrients. 2021;13(6): 2043. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13062043
8. The GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators. Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years. N. Engl. J. Med. 2017;1(377):13-27. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa 1614362
9. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour: at a glance. WHO/ EURO: 2021-12040-40953-58211. (access 20.11.2024).
10. Ng M, Gakidou E, Lo J, et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet. 2025;405(10481):813-838. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(25)00355-1
11. Chen J, Bai Y, Ni W. Reasons and promotion strategies of physical activity constraints in obese/overweight children and adolescents. Sports Med. Health Sci. 2023;6(1):25¬36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smhs.2023.10.004
12. World Health Organization. 2021. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/341657 (access 20.11.2024).
13. Nguyen T, de Brauw A, van den Berg M, et al. Testing methods to increase consumption of healthy foods evidence from a school-based field experiment in Viet Nam. Food Policy. 2021;101:102047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102047
14. Darfour-Oduro SA, Andrade JE, Grigsby-Toussaint DS. Review of policies to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity in 49 low- and middle-income countries. J. Public Health. 2019;41(1):119-129. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdy039
15. Wolnicka K, Taraszewska A, Jaczewska-Schuetz J. Assessment of assortment of school shops and vending machines in primary schools in urban and rural areas in Poland in 2013. Pol. J. Hum. Nutr. Metab. 2015;42(4):209-216. DOI not assigned
16. World Health Organization. United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition. 2022. Report by the Director-General. United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016–2025. EB152/24. https://www.unscn.org/en/topics/un-decade¬of-action-on-nutrition
17. Nelson M. The School Food Trust: transforming school lunches in England. Nutrition Bulettin. 2011;36:381-389. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2011.01914.x
18. Journal of Laws of The Republic of Poland. Regulation of The Minister of Health of 26 July 2016 regarding the foodstuffs to be sold to children and youth in education system facilities and the requirements to be met by the foodstuffs served on a mass scale to children and youth in those facilities.
19. Kucharska A, Wiski M, Sińska B, et al. Habits related to school shops and students’ opinions on the changes made in product range following the implementation of the Minister of Health Regulation of 26th August 2015 concerning nutrition standards in educational institutions. KNUV. 2017;2(55):275-287.
20. Wiles NL, Green JM, Veldman FJ. The variety, popularity and nutritional quality of tuck shop items available for sale to primary school learners in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. S. Afr. J. Clin. Nutr. 2011;24(3):129-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/16070658.2011.11734364
21. Kay Fox M, Condon E. School nutrition dietary assessment study-iv: summary of findings. United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. 2012.
22. Jarossová MA. The impact of school shops on students’ eating habits on the example of secondary schools in Wrocław in Poland. Studia commercialia Bratislavensia. 2013;6(24):581-590. https://doi.org/10.2478/stcb-2013-0009.
23. Manson AC, Johnson BJ, Middleton G, et al. Getting school-provided meals to the table: an international multiple-case study of school food service. Health Promot. Int. 2025;39(6):177-188. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae177
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
