A high prevalence of obesity among children is influenced by serious implications. Obesity mainly results from behavioral factors, such as improper dietary habits. This study aims to evaluate the nutritional status and dietary habits of children aged 6–10 (n = 908) attending primary schools in Poland, Europe. The research tool was a questionnaire that was completed by one of the children’s parents. A statistical analysis was made using statistical software. The value of p = 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. A total of 74.7% of children surveyed have a normal body mass. As many as 91.7% and 76.6% of children, respectively, eat a first and second breakfast daily. Nearly half of parents (48.9%) state that their child consumes milk or other dairy products daily. A total of 74.3% of children drink water daily. A total of 27.6% eats fish less frequently than once a week. A total of 7.6% of children eat fish several times a week. As many as 20.6% of the respondents state that their child eats brown bread several times a week, whereas 19.9% state that their child never eats brown bread. A total of 55.1% of children eat fruits and/or vegetables daily. A total of 14.1% of children surveyed consume sweets daily. The study revealed a positive correlation between BMI and the frequency of mineral water consumption (p = 0.013) in 9 y.o. girls. It was also revealed that the number of consumed fruit/vegetables increases with the BMI value among 10 y.o. boys (p = 0.044). Conclusions: The dietary habits of the investigated children are still improper. There is a great need for education on this issue, but family involvement is also required.

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Authors' contribution Wkład autorów: A. Study design/planning zaplanowanie badań B. Data collection/entry zebranie danych C. Data analysis/statistics dane -analiza i statystyki D. Data interpretation interpretacja danych E. Preparation of manuscript przygotowanie artykułu F. Literature analysis/search wyszukiwanie i analiza literatury G. Funds collection zebranie funduszy Summary Background. Nutritional disorders constitute a significant clinical problem in the 21st century. The problems of overweight and obesity concern not only adults, but are also increasingly affecting developing children. Material and methods. The study was conducted among parents of children aged 10-13 years.Based on the data obtained from questionnaires distributed to the parents, body mass index (BMI) and degree of nutrition was determined and the influence of socio-demographic factors on the nutritional status of children was analyzed.Results. This study found that approximately 16% of children aged 10-13 are categorized as overweight, and 26% are categorized as obese. Place of residence has a significant effect on the BMI of included children, with those living in a country being characterized by a significantly lower BMI compared to those living in a town or city (p=0.008). Children whose parents are overweight or obese are characterized by a higher BMI compared to children whose parents are not overweight or obese (p=0.001). Conclusions. This study shows that the presence of overweight or obesity in a parent is correlated with a higher BMI in their children. In addition, children living in the countryside have a significantly lower average BMI compared to children living in a town or city.

Background. Physical activity (PA) is a primary stimulator of human psychosomatic development.Material and methods. The research analysis was based on data for children 6-10 years of age (n=908) attending primary schools in Poland, which were collected through indirect interviews from their parents. The research tool included an anonymous survey questionnaire for which the response rate was 20.8%. A value of p≤0.05 was taken to indicate statistical significance.Body Mass Index (BMI) was used for the assessment of the weight and height proportions.Results. Moderate PA of 3-5 hours per week had the highest percentage among girls and boys for type of PA. Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MPVA), which equates to 5-10 hours, was selected by 17.1-28.1% of girls, depending on body weight, and was most frequent among the group of obese girls. In the group of boys, MPVA=5-10 was 17.2-27.6% respectively, depending on body weight. This answer was most frequently selected by boys with normal body weight (27.6%). In both the groups of girls and boys, no statistically significant differences between nutritional status and time spent on PA were noted (girls: χ²=24.00; p=0. 065; boys: χ²=19.33; p=0.199). The majority of children surveyed used sports facilities 2-4 times a week.This answer was most frequently chosen by the group of obese boys (51.7%) and girls (54.8%).Conclusions. Levels of PA among the children in this study was found to be insufficient, and the amount of PA did not have a statistically significant correlation with body weight.

Authors' contribution Wkład autorów:A. Study design/planning zaplanowanie badań B. Data collection/entry zebranie danych C. Data analysis/statistics dane -analiza i statystyki D. Data interpretation interpretacja danych E. Preparation of manuscript przygotowanie artykułu F. Literature analysis/search wyszukiwanie i analiza literatury G. Funds collection zebranie funduszy SummaryBackground. The measurement of salivary ghrelin and leptin concentrations can be a valuable diagnostic tool for assessing children's nutrition. Material and methods. The study was conducted in a group of children aged 10-13 years in selected elementary schools in the Silesia Province, Poland. Biological material (saliva) was collected from the study children and anthropometric measurements were taken. Collected saliva was subjected to ELISA analysis. Using the obtained anthropometric data, Body Mass Index was calculated, nutritional status of children was determined based on growth charts. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the collected data. Results. A total of 111 children (48 girls and 63 boys) participated in the study. Normal body weight was observed in 55% of boys and 66% of girls; overweight was observed in 21% of girls and 27% of boys and obesity in 12.5% of girls and 14.3% of boys. Ghrelin concentrations in the whole study group correlate significantly with leptin concentrations (Pearson's r=0.45; p=0.001). Body Mass Index, body weight, waist circumference, as well as hip circumference are statistically associated with ghrelin (p=0.001) and leptin (p=0.001) levels. Conclusions. The factor influencing salivary concentrations of ghrelin and leptin is body weight, whereas gender has no effect on the concentrations of the compounds in question. Body Mass Index values, body weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist/hip ratio correlate with salivary concentrations of ghrelin and leptin.

Background The nutrition disorders in the children’s population, in the form of malnutrition, as well as overweight and obesity constitute a significant clinical problem in the contemporary world. As a result of the improper way of children’s nutrition, their physical and mental development becomes dysfunctional, which leads in their adult life to serious health consequences, among others, complications of cardiovascular system, metabolic and endocrinological and disorders, improper development of osteoarticular system and mental diseases and social withdrawal. Results Five hundred eighty-nine parents of children aged 10–13 participated in the survey questionnaire, where 304 respondents were constituted by girls (51.61%); however, the remaining 285 people were represented by boys (48.39%). It turned out that overweight and obesity concern approximately 44% of respondents; however, approximately 22% of children have too low body weight in relation to age and sex. While analysing dietary habits, it was observed that main meals are not consumed by all children; breakfast is consumed by approximately 90% of respondents, packed lunch just by 70% and lunch and supper by 90% of respondents. In the course of subsequent analyses, it turned out that over ¾ of respondents declared that their child drinks mineral water every day, only approximately 44% of them drink milk every day; however, almost 18% of children reach for sweet drinks. Children eat sweet or salty snacks too often (over 55% every day or several times a week), resigning from consuming fruit and vegetables (just half of respondents every day), fish and brown bread (below 30% of children eat these products less than once a week); every fifth child dedicates less than 3 h to physical activity, 39% of respondents do exercise from 3 to 5 h a week, the next 25% from 5 to 10 h. Conclusions It was observed in the analysed population that over half of them struggle with the degree of nutrition disorders in the form of overweight and obesity or malnutrition. We may conclude, based on the obtained results, that children have inappropriate dietary habits, consuming too small quantities of fruit and vegetables, brown bread, fish and drinking improper quantities of water and milk. Repeatedly, they replace these full-value products by consuming sweets and salty snacks and by drinking sweet drinks, they also more and more often reach for processed food in fast food bars. What is worrying, it was also observed that in the analysed population, children dedicate too little of their free time to physical activity and additional physical activities.

Authors' contribution Wkład autorów: A. Study design/planning zaplanowanie badań B. Data collection/entry zebranie danych C. Data analysis/statistics dane -analiza i statystyki D. Data interpretation interpretacja danych E. Preparation of manuscript przygotowanie artykułu F. Literature analysis/search wyszukiwanie i analiza literatury G. Funds collection zebranie funduszy SummaryRecently, the diagnostic use of saliva in medicine has become a major goal for many researchers. There are many advantages of using saliva diagnostics. Its drawing is non-invasive, painless, quickly repeated, and straightforward. Its diagnostic potential has been demonstrated, in particular for infectious diseases and diseases of the oral cavity. Because of the unabated frequency of occurrence of malignant neoplastic diseases, especially in seniors, this paper aims at presenting an overview of chosen studies that have used saliva in the diagnostic and monitoring of selected malignant diseases. The potential use of saliva in the diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer, by detecting genetic material in saliva and analysis of characteristic mutations of the EGFR gene, has been described. Additionally, prostate cancer can be detected by positive identification of microRNA markers in saliva. Evaluation of PSA concentrations in saliva has also been carried out and obtained results were correlated with blood concentrations. There are also reports concerning the Ca15-3 marker in the saliva in women with breast cancer. The evaluation of lung cancer resistance protein in the saliva of these patients has also been investigated. The results of the cited studies are promising and give hope for the potential use for salivary diagnosis of these cancers.

In recent years, because of huge advances in medicine and technological progress, coupled with the application of increasingly accurate diagnostic tests, the use of saliva for medical purposes has become increasingly important. Saliva is a natural digestive secretion of the major and minor salivary glands that ensures, among other things, the proper functioning of the occlusion system. Other functions include the protection of dental surfaces from various external influences, and involvement in the formation of the food bolus and in the acts of swallowing, digestion, and speech. The composition of saliva is varied. In addition to water, which is found in saliva in far greater quantities than in any other substance, it also contains various substances which are also present in the blood. Their determination in saliva often has a great diagnostic potential in the early detection of both oral and systemic diseases. The diagnosis of selected systemic diseases using saliva is becoming the subject of a growing number of scientific studies. In this paper, the authors have focused on providing the reader with basic information about the physiology of saliva and on presenting the possibilities for its diagnostic application in selected systemic diseases.