Background Healthy eating behaviour of children determines their normal physical and neuropsychological status. Epidemiological data has revealed an increasing prevalence rate of disordered eating behaviour in the population for all ages and genders. It is most common in adolescent girls who often conduct extreme weight control practices, driven by a desire to achieve the “perfect” body shape. Methods A study was conducted among 240 adolescent girls from Varna aiming to estimate their eating behaviour. The data was collected via: • Anthropometric measurements for assessment of the nutritional status Bioelectrical impedance analysis of body composition assessmentQuestionnaires including: Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ); The Eating Attitudes Test - 26 (EAT- 26) to access the risk factors for the development of eating disorders (ED); Questionnaire for identification of risk factors contributing to early dieting. Results The analysis of the results shows that the eating behaviour of the female students aged from 14 to 19 years in Varna can be defined as risky. Findings demonstrate a significant percentage of subjects who are on a diet at the time of the survey. Over 36% of the participants show at least 1 symptom correlating with an increased risk for the development of ED and 22.7% are at very high risk of developing an ED in the future. Conclusions The findings suggest that adolescent girls tend to engage in unhealthy approaches trying to reach their “thin ideal”. Early detection of disordered eating behaviour is especially important to prevent the development of clinically expressed ED and the complications associated with them. Key messages The study has revealed that a significant percentage of adolescent girls are at high risk of developing an eating disorder. The data shows a need for an early detection program for risky eating behaviour in order to prevent the development of ED amongst adolescents.
Background Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is one of the most common chronic conditions in teenagers. There is an increasing amount of evidence suggesting that AIS is associated with low body mass, but the link between the condition and the nutritional status of the adolescents has not been well researched. This ongoing study aims to access the relationship between AIS and all the aspects of the nutritional status in-depth, including factors such as physical activity (PA). Methods Data is collected from 101 participants with AIS from Varna, Bulgaria using anthropometric measurements, clinical examination to determine the severity of the spinal curvature and questionnaires including a standardized questionnaire for PA of adolescents - PAQ-A. Participants were categorized into 3 groups of AIS severity according to Cobb Angle: mild (10°-19°), moderate (20°-39°) and severe (>40°). Results Out of 101 participants, 81 had mild, 15 had moderate and 5 had severe scoliotic curvatures. None of the participants reported reduced PA due to impaired or restricted physical functions related to AIS. Only 40% of all subjects with AIS had PAQ-A score over 2.75, which corresponds to the international recommendations of > 60 mins of daily moderate-vigorous PA. There was a strong negative correlation between PAQ-A score and AIS severity (Spearman's Correlation Coefficient = - .433, p < 0.001). The mean PAQ-A score was 2.73 in mild curvatures compared to 1.98 in moderate and severe ones. Subjects with AIS were 4.8 times more likely to have mild severity if they met the PA recommendations (OR = 4,815 (95%CI, 1.268-18.279)). Those are preliminary results and data will be further compared to a control group. Conclusions The level of daily PA might have an impact on the severity of AIS. PA recommendations could be given to patients with AIS as a way of secondary prophylaxis against this chronic idiopathic disorder. Key messages This ongoing study is the first to investigate in-depth the association of all the aspects of nutritional status including PA with the incidence and severity of AIS. PA shows a significant negative correlation with AIS severity. PA recommendations might be a useful addition to the secondary prophylaxis of AIS.
Bron chial asthma is a chronic lung in flam ma tion. This is the most wide spread and so cially sig nif i cant dis ease among non-in fec tious dis eases. Its treat ment is ex pen sive and long-last ing. In case of in ad e quate man agement, in ad vanc ing age and pro gres sion of bron chial asthma, its treat ment be comes in creas ingly ex pen sive and in ef fec tive. This of ten re sults in hos pi tal iza tion and dis abil ity. Di rect and in di rect eco nomic costs are related to eco nomic losses es ti mated at 17,7 bil lion Eu ros per year in Eu rope. It is as sumed that about 5% of adults and from 7% to 10% of chil dren suf fer from bron chial asthma. The dis ease man i fests at all ages but is more com mon in early life. About half of all the cases of bron chial asthma de velop in the age of 10 years, and an other one-third of cases oc cur be fore 40 years of age. In child hood male-to-fe male ra tio is 2:1, which equalizes by 30 years of age. The study an a lyzes the in ci dence rate of bron chial asthma among chil dren ac cord ing to sex, age, fre quency of at tacks, ther apy and side ef fects re sult ing from it. The so cial as pects and prob lems of bron chial asthma pa tients in North East ern Bul garia are pre sented. The in quiry has been con ducted among two groups of re spon dents: phy si cians and pa tients. Two dif fer ent ques tion naires have been elab o rated targeting at each group. These groups have se lected to cover the disease from its first symptoms, which is of utmost importance for its diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
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