In order to increase the level of work motivation and job satisfaction of health workers in rural areas, apart from better income, they should get more assistance and support from their supervisors, and awards for good job performance; interpersonal relationships, promotion and advancement opportunities, managerial performance and cooperation at work should be improved; employment security should be provided, as well as more independence at work, with professional supervision of health workers.

Nutritional care represents any practice provided by a health professional, aimed to improve the patient’s health outcomes by influencing patient’s dietary habits. Clearly, dietitians are the ones supposed to provide top-quality nutrition care, but their services are often inaccessible to many for various reasons. This obliges general practitioners (GPs) in primary health care to provide nutritional counselling to their patients to a certain extent. Preconditions to successful nutritional counselling are GPs with adequate nutritional knowledge, positive attitudes towards nutrition and nutritional care, self-confident and competent in nutritional counselling. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarise currently available information on nutritional knowledge, confidence and attitudes towards nutritional care and nutrition counselling practice of GPs, as well as barriers towards provision of nutritional counselling. GPs do not consistently obtain satisfying results in nutrition knowledge assessments and their self-confidence in nutrition counselling skills varies. Studies suggest that nutritional counselling practice still has not met its full potential, and GPs frequently report various barriers that impair nutritional counselling practice. Thus, health policies that help overcome barriers and create stimulating environment for GPs to implement nutrition counselling strategies efficiently are the key to improving quality and quantity of nutritional counselling.

The student population includes young adults who need nutrition and regular physical activity (PA) for mental, cognitive, and physical development. It is estimated that, globally, only 25–40% of the university student population is involved in regular PA. To date, no research has been conducted in the Western Balkans to address the PA of medical students. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and factors influencing PA among medical students from the Western Balkans. A cross-sectional study included 2452 students from 14 medical faculties in five countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia). There were significantly more students who engaged than those who did not engage in some type of regular (daily) PA. Gender, overweight or obesity, and household income are significantly associated with students’ PA. Students who are more often involved in regular daily PA and have higher daily PA levels are more likely to be males whose household income is above average. In order to improve the health of the student population, the public health authorities need to continuously investigate the PA of students and introduce appropriate activities to increase their level of PA.

High sodium intake in students of the University of Novi Sad puts them at high risk of developing high blood pressure. The food industry should work towards reformulating products with high sodium content, especially bread and other bakery products. Efforts should be taken to reduce sodium intake among undergraduate students in Novi Sad.

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