Hábitos alimentarios en adolescentes de séptimo grado del municipio "10 de Octubre"

introduction: the nutrition plays a critical role in the adolescent health and the consumption of a inappropriate diet may to influence in an unfavorable way on the somatic growth and the sexual maturation being a crucial stage of development where frequently prevail the nutritional disorders. methods: a cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted to identify and to describe the tastes, preferences and frequency of food consumption of adolescent of 7th degree studying in the "josé maría heredia" secondary school in the 2009-2010 course. sample included 192 adolescents and with the parents consent underwent to alimentary survey on tastes, preferences and weekly frequency of food consumption. results: the more preferred foods were the butter, mayonnaise and cream-cheese, sweets, preserves and soft drinks, mainly consumed daily; unlike the fruits and vegetables. the 14.1 % of adolescents preferred the alcohol and the 15.6 % consumed them at least once a week. conclusions: there are deficiencies in the alimentary education as well as inappropriate alimentary habits in the study adolescents.