Background The aim of this international study was to investigate the prevalence of the use of sports supplements among young athletes, as well as their knowledge and attitudes towards sports supplementation. Methods Organized survey study testing the level of knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices concerning the use of sports supplements was administered to 348 athletes, 15–18 year olds from 4 countries competing in 18 sports at the international level. Results The prevalence rate of the intake of sports supplements was 82.2%, with the protein supplements being predominant (54.5%). Coaches were identified as the primary source of information regarding supplementation (41.4%). The enhancement of athletic performance (35.4%) was the major motivation for the supplements intake. The majority of athletes (72.1%) were aware of associated health risks. The young athletes possess varying levels of knowledge regarding their own supplementation. The obtained data about the level of knowledge were statistically analyzed using the correspondence analysis. Less than 40% of athletes had the knowledge about the proper and intended use of protein, creatine, amino acids, beta alanine and glutamine, while they had greater understanding about vitamins and minerals, sports drinks and caffeine. The athletes in developed countries had greater access and utilization of professional resources such as dieticians. Young athletes are still unfamiliar with WADA regulations (55.5%), and the misuse of sports supplements represents an ethical dilemma for some. Conclusion These findings indicate the necessity of a comprehensive education of all team members about sports supplements and careful supervision of the athletic development of young athletes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12970-019-0294-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundThe dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity in developed and developing countries has become a major health care concern. Accordingly, there is growing recognition of the relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and obesity in the pediatric population. This study aimed to explore the relationship between HRQOL and different indicators of obesity in children aged 7–8 years.MethodIn total, 182 children participated in this study (mean age 7.71 (0.29) years, 48.91% girls). To assess obesity, an InBody 230 analyzer was used to calculate body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BFP). The proxy version of the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire was used to assess HRQOL.ResultsAmong boys, 17.2% were overweight and 4.3% were obese according to BMI, while in terms of body fat percentage (BFP), the corresponding percentages were 12.9 and 9.7%, respectively. Among girls, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 11.2 and 9.0% by BMI and 10.1 and 7.9% in terms of BFP, respectively. The analysis of BFP showed a significantly higher score in normal weight boys than in obese boys in the Social Support & Peers domains (KW H-test = 10.472, p = 0.03), while in girls, there were no significant differences between weight categories and any HRQOL dimensions.ConclusionObesity at 7–8 years of age could negatively affect some HRQOL domains; in particular, obese boys may have low social support and peer functioning.

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Increase in youth violence, discipline problems in schools, decrease of interest in physical activities and other negative trends, impose the need for reconceptualization of physical education. Among promising models, one stands out. It is the Hellison’s responsibility model or Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model-TPSR Model, based on intrinsic motivation and encouraging personal and social responsibility of students. Goal of the present study was to check the effectiveness of Hellison’s model in primary school physical education setting. Sample consisted of students of third grade of elementary school (N=100; 54 boys, 46 girls), appointed to experimental and control group. The effects of the experimental (TPSR) and standard program of physical education on responsibility in students, motivational orientations, self-evaluation, social support and motor learning were tested. The data was processed by methods of descriptive statistics, MANOVA analysis and Mann-Whitney test (p ≤ .05). After completing experimental program, statistically significant differences were detected in all dependent variables, consistently in favor of the experimental group. Hellison’s model produced the largest effects in the domain of motor learning, responsibility and self-determined motivation in students, which points to validity of its implementation in regular physical education teaching.

Background and objectives: The effectiveness of short-term focused educational programs to change health behaviors across large populations seems to be poorly described so far. The main aim of the present study was to evaluate an age-specific 45-min educational program, designed in accordance with the current U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines and physical activity (PA) guidelines, among adolescents and adults. Materials and Methods: We evaluated the health-promoting lifestyle habits by the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) at baseline and following 6–8 weeks post-education in a nationally representative sample of Serbian adolescents and adults (n = 3822). Results: The percentage of adolescents eating 3–5 servings of vegetables per day increased at follow-up (20.1% versus 23.1%, p = 0.001), with significantly more adolescents regularly reading food labels (from 12.2% at baseline to 14.2% at follow-up; p = 0.02). Taken together, mean HPLP-II scores in adolescents significantly improved for both diet (0.05 points; p < 0.0001) and PA (0.09 points; p < 0.0001), and for PA in adults (0.08 points; p < 0.0001). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that our model as a whole (including time of testing as a predictor variable, and age and gender as control variables) explained 3.0% of the variance in mean HPLP-II scores for diet (p = 0.942) and 3.0% for PA (p = 0.285) in adolescents, and 1.1% of the variance in HPLP-II scores for diet (p = 0.781) and 1.9% for PA (p = 0.075) in adults, respectively. Conclusions: It appears that a brief focused education can positively tackle unhealthy lifestyles in promoting good health in general population. Different modes of interactive communication used here appeared to strengthen participants’ capacities for lifestyle changes.