Food cultures, lifestyles and health of Pacific adolescents: Questionnaire data and anthropometric measurements focused on 11 to 16 years old students living in New Caledonia

This paper presents data collected from 1062 adolescents (521 females, 540 males) attending eight different schools in New Caledonia, an archipelago of the South Pacific. The adolescents, aged from 11 to 16 years old, lived in rural (<i>n</i> = 384) or urban (<i>n</i> = 678) areas of this French territory. The data, collected from July 2018 to April 2019, includes information from several different sources. Demographic information (sex, age and socioeconomic status) was obtained from the school management system. Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist size, skinfold thickness and impedancemeter measurements) were obtained and then derived to assess weight status components (z-score and weight status categories) following standard references. Bioimpedance and skinfold thickness were also used to assess body composition. The questionnaires were designed to collect important information from participants about their lifestyles with the capacity to relate the information to cultural identity. Participants were asked to self-identify to an ethnic community. Participants eating behavior was assessed via the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The self-esteem was assessed using a validated French translation of the well-known Rosenberg's self-esteem scale. The prevalence and underlying reasons for procrastination among students was evaluated using the Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students (PASS). The sleep questionnaire was built to calculate sleep time in participants and identify underlaying reasons for insufficient sleep. The digital device and media questionnaire primarily aimed to investigate digital devices' access and ownership (Multimedia devices), screen time (Screens and me), main purpose of use and the influence of digital and non-digital media on food choices (Screen and information). The "My body and me" questionnaire is a validated questionnaire that determines participant's physical self-perception profile. Data about internalization of societal standards of appearance and the perceived pressures they experience to conform to these standards were collected using the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4). Finally, the self-perceived appearance questionnaire aimed to assess the discrepancy between the participants' self-perceived and actual weight status. Finally, information about aerobic fitness (i.e., maximal aerobic speed test and assessment of maximal oxygen consumption) is known for 334 participants. The dataset contains sensitive data that are provided through restricted access. Additionally, a subset of non-sensitive data can be accessed openly. The paper describes the file's content and the characteristics of the participants. This dataset contains diverse high-quality data valuable for researchers, public authorities and other parties interested in behavior, lifestyles and health of Pacific adolescents.