IntroductionDuring the last two decades, obesity has proved to be one of the most important problems of public health, and it is considerably more frequent in developed countries, not only in adults, but in children, too. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children.Material and methodsTwo thousand three hundred and seventy-four pupils in primary education were considered for the study (1206 boys and 1168 girls).ResultsIn the population-based study, the proportion of overweight children was 23.9%, of obese children 7.3%, and of those with central obesity 35.5%. The boys were obese in a higher percentage than the girls (9.2% vs. 5.3%, p < 0.05). The obesity rates were gradually reduced as the children were growing older. The nutritional habits which were identified to have a positive association with obesity were the following: skipping breakfast, not consuming fruits and vegetables, and consuming bread and soft drinks. Children's healthy nutrition in school was related to lower rates of generalised and central obesity, while the hours spent watching TV were positively associated with all types of obesity.ConclusionsResults from the study suggest that a high proportion of children are overweight or obese. Therefore, it is important to adhere to a healthy lifestyle which emphasizes healthy food choices and habits, regular physical activity, and limiting screen time.

The health of an individual depends on both his/her physical and psychological condition. In recent years it has been observed that chronic patients have frequently an affected psycho-emotional state. The purpose of this study is to investigate anxiety and depression in patients with chronic diseases and the correlation of the results with daily physical activity levels and individual health levels, as well comorbidity. This study included patients with chronic diseases that were treated in a local general hospital or were visiting often outpatient clinics of the same hospital due to their condition. The sample in this particular study included 204 patients; 118 of them were women and 86 men. From the total sample that participated in our research, 118 (57.8%) were females and the majority of the participants were secondary/basic education graduates (67%), married (71%), living in urban areas (53%). Hypertension was the most frequent chronic disease in our sample, followed by hypercholesterolemia and diabetes mellitus. Comparing the occurrence of depression and anxiety symptoms in both questionnaires in relation to the expected frequency in the general population, significant levels of depression and anxiety symptoms were recorded. Taking into consideration the findings of this research, anxiety and depression symptoms can have profound effects regarding the control of chronic diseases, the patients’ quality of life and their general health.

Aim. The aim of the present study was to record habits and attitudes of primary school students in Greece regarding sun-protection measures. Materials and Methods. 2,163 students with an average age of 9.9 (±1.1) years, studying in 14 schools of a Greek region, constituted our sample. The SPSS 17.0 software was used for the statistical analysis and significance level was set to P ≤ 0.05. Results. Our sample had an equal gender distribution. 16% of the students belonged to the high-risk group, 70.2% of the participants lived 0–5 km away from the sea (urban area), 84.2% of the students were Greek, and 15.8% had non-Greek nationality. Half of the participants said they wear a hat when under the sun and 72% of them said they use sunscreen. 33.1% of the students said they had a sunburn last summer. Greek students as well as those who lived near the sea had better behaviour patterns regarding sun protection. Finally, children who did not use a sunscreen systematically had suffered sunburns more often than the rest. Conclusions. Health education programmes are necessary for students and parents/teachers alike, in order to raise awareness about everyday sun protection.

Introduction: Overexposure to sun radiation and particularly its accumulation during childhood and adolescence is a significant risk factor for skin cancer development. The sun burn is particularly important. Aim: To estimate sun burn incidence in young pupils in a coastal area of Greece. Materials and Methods: Two surveys were conducted in a school population in the same district in Greece, over different periods of time, in young people 9 to 18 years old (n=2 977). Anonymous questionnaires were completed. Levels of significance were twotailed and statistical significance was set at p=0.05. SPSS 17.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: From the individual characteristics of the participants it was shown that the majority of them had dark hair and fair skin, whereas a significant percentage reported the existence of moles on face and their body (83.4% vs 68.1%). The sun burn incidence was high in adolescents and the younger pupils (41.9% vs 55.6%). The younger aged children who were living in an urban area had significantly higher rates of sun burn than those living in semi-urban areas (33.8% vs 24.8%, p=0.020). As far as the knowledge of pupils about the risks of sun radiation it was shown that the elementary school pupils had better knowledge than those at high school. Finally, those with better knowledge had the fewer sun burns (Mean 2.83 SD 0.87, p<0.001). Conclusions: The contribution of knowledge to the decrease of sun burn incidence is important as long as this is continuous. Therefore, the education should concern not only children but also teachers and parents in the context of continuous and systematic programs of health education.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate female nursing students' knowledge and attitudes regarding breast self-examination (BSE). The sample consisted of 175 nursing students from a university in Cyprus. We collected data via a questionnaire that included the Greek version of the Champion Health Belief Model scale and questions regarding the participants' demographic characteristics. More than half of the participants (58.3%) said that they were knowledgeable about BSE and 29.1% of them had been taught about it during their studies. Nevertheless, 59.9% reported never having performed BSE, while 40.1% had performed it at least once. Only 10.9% of the students performed BSE every month for more than a year. Self-confidence had a positive and significant correlation (0.86) with BSE frequency. Also, we found quite a low level of BSE knowledge and practice levels, and this highlights the need for establishing breast cancer prevention programs.

Background:Considerable studies directly connect the complications in diabetic patients, and especially peripheral neuropathy, with the emergence of depression. Neuropathetic pain may deteriorate the general health status of the diabetic patient and glycaemic regulation.Purpose:The purpose of this study was to investigate the appearance and degree of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and its correlation with depression, with other parameters of the disease and also duration.Methods:57 diabetic patients participated with diagnosed diabetic peripheral neuropathy (male n=27, female n= 30, mean of age 72.7±6.35 years). The first part of Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument and the Zung Depression Rating Scale were used as tools for our study. Data was analysed with the SPSS 18.0 statistic program.Results:57.9% of the patients were overweight, 35.1% were obese and only 7% were within normal weight range. The BMI findings between the two genders indicate that male participants are more often obese than females. Women surpassed men in the category of overweight patients (p<0.05). The score based on MNSI was high and between 3 to 12 (mean average of 8.19±2.60 with 8 as intermediate rate). Almost 60% of patients had severe neuropathy, only 2 were found with mild symptoms and the rest had moderate neuropathtic symptoms, based on the score summary from the questionnaire. Investigating in detail the relation of diabetic neuropathy and depression, it derives that a high degree of diabetic neuropathy is related with high score of depression [F(3.160)=9.821, p=0.001]. Moderate and severe neuropathy was found with almost the same levels of depression.Conclusions:The correlation between diabetic neuropathy and depression is confirmed, while a very high depression rate was found in patients with severe neuropathy. The issue needs further study by using common instruments to obtain comparative results from the scientific community.

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