Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is defined as co-occurrence of increased fat mass and sarcopenia and may predict adverse health outcomes in the pediatric population. However, the prevalence of SO and its association with adverse health outcomes have not been well defined in children and adolescents. We systematically reviewed data on the SO definition, prevalence, and adverse outcomes in the pediatric population. A total of 18 articles retrieved from PubMed or Web of Science databases were included. Overall, there was a wide heterogeneity in the methods and thresholds used to define SO. The prevalence of SO ranged from 5.66% to 69.7% in girls, with a range between 7.2% and 81.3% in boys. Of the 8 studies that evaluated outcomes related to SO, all showed a significant association of SO with cardiometabolic outcomes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) severity, inflammation, and mental health. In conclusion, this review found that SO is highly prevalent in children and adolescents and is associated with various adverse health outcomes. Findings of this review highlight the need for the development of a consensus regarding definition, standardized evaluation methods, and age and gender thresholds for SO for different ethnicities in the pediatric population. Further studies are needed to understand the relationship between obesity and sarcopenia and SO impact on adverse health outcomes in children and adolescents.

Objectives: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is one of the most common causes of death associated with cardiovascular diseases. Despite the relatively high incidence rate, awareness and access to information about VTE risk factors as well as knowledge concerning effective prevention possibilities remain limited, including among health care professionals. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge and awareness concerning venous thromboembolism among students of the Medical University of Silesia. Material and methods: The study was performed on a group of 400 medical students from the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice from years 3 to 6, recruiting 100 people from each of the clinical years. The study was conducted based on a survey which included 27 questions concerning knowledge of the definition of venous thromboembolism, pathogenesis, epidemiology, risk factors, symptoms and diagnostics related to this group of patients. Results: The proper definition of venous thromboembolism was indicated by 60% of the respondents and the proper components of Virchow's triad, which underlies the pathogenesis of deep vein thrombosis, were defined by 69%. The further question answers revealed that although the study programme includes venous thromboembolism, the knowledge of the students in the field of epidemiology, symptomatology and risk factors of this affliction is still limited. Conclusions: According to the results of the study, it is advisable to take action, including educative effort, to increase the awareness of the future medical staff about problems related to VTE.

Children’s food preferences are closely related to their parents’ food preferences and knowledge of food is linked to what their parents share with them. Parents, however, are not the only people who model such behavior. Paradoxically, the ubiquitous technological development can also pose a huge threat. In developed countries, 94% of teenagers use social media platforms such as: Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or TikTok, and this also applies to children. It can therefore be argued that parents’ nutritional preferences and behavior are related to the same behaviors of children and there is an extensive literature on this subject. It is therefore important to check how other factors – new technology (and social media in particular) – can influence changes in this area. A literature search was conducted in the following databases: Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCO in December 2021. After applying all the filters and verification of relevance in terms of the research on the topic of interest to us, 4 articles related to research on body image and social media and 4 articles related to research on food choices and social media among children and adolescents were obtained. The conducted analysis showed that various studies so far indicate that social media can have a very strong influence on the development of eating patterns and body image in children and adolescents, which in turn may be one of the risk factors for developing obesity when promoted behaviors are not associated with a healthy lifestyle. It is also worth pointing out that social media can be used as a resource in the prevention and treatment of obesity. A closer look at this topic seems to be particularly important due to the fact that, among adults, social media is not only a very important source of information about lifestyle, but also a source of social support when people attempting to lose weight. Therefore, by increasing preventive activity in social media and using modern solutions related to social media (including the use of hashtag signs), we can have a greater impact on the health awareness of children and adolescents around the world.

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