Healthy lifestyle beliefs, nutritional behaviors, and physical activity of adolescents: A mediation analysis

Although the Covid-19 pandemic has ended, its negative impacts on adolescents' physical activity levels, nutritional behaviors, and healthy lifestyle beliefs persist. This study aimed to examine whether physical activity (PAS) mediates the relationship between healthy lifestyle beliefs (HLB) and nutritional behaviors (NBS) among adolescents. This study was a quantitative study, with a cross sectional survey design. It was conducted during the 2022-2023 academic year in Anatolian high schools in Turkey, and it involved 686 high school students aged 14-17 who voluntarily participated. Data were collected using a personal information form, the Healthy Lifestyle Beliefs Scale, the Physical Activity Scale (PAS), and the Nutrition Behavior Scale (NBS). Descriptive statistics (mean ± SD) and regression analysis were performed using SPSS 22.0 and the PROCESS macro v3.5 (Model 4) with a bootstrap resampling method (5000 samples). Results indicated that adolescents exhibited high levels of HLB, while PAS and NBS were at moderate levels. A moderate positive correlation was found between HLB and NBS (r=0.665, p=0.000), while low positive correlations existed between HLB and PAS (r=0.366, p=0.000), and PAS and NBS (r=0.330, p=0.000). Physical activity was found to partially mediate the relationship between HLB and NBS (0.049, 95% CI [0.0237, 0.0784]). These findings highlight the importance of promoting physical activity to support better nutritional behaviors, which may lead to healthier lifestyles and improved long-term health outcomes for adolescents.