Eating disorders in children as a consequence of stress caused by war: general results of the study

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine eating disorders based on the results of a survey of parents and an analysis of the perception of the behavior of children aged 5-17 in conditions of stress caused by war. Research materials and methods. A large-scale cross-sectional survey of parents of school-age children who were in Ukraine at the time of the start of the war (February 24, 2022) was conducted. A total of 5,165 parents took part in the survey. The survey concerned eating disorders and included information about the gender, age, place and conditions of the child's stay, financial support and the family's access to food, general mental manifestations of stress, eating disorders that arose as a result of military operations, changes in the child's physique, etc. The work uses a specially developed questionnaire based on standardized questionnaires about children's stress and eating disorders. This stage of the work determines the peculiarities of the child's whereabouts in relation to military events (staying in occupied territories, in close proximity to hostilities, in peaceful territory, moving within Ukraine or going abroad) and their impact on the eating behavior of school-aged children. The processing of the results included descriptive statistics, as well as the analysis of the relationships of the variables using conjugation tables by calculating the Spearman's rank coefficient and Pearson's chi-square for qualitative variables. The results. It was established that the absence or decrease of appetite, rapid satiety, change in attitude to food are general stress disorders inherent in the entire studied cohort of children. Statistical analysis revealed that the frequency and duration of eating disorders, appetite, delayed satiety, capriciousness or lack of understanding, somato-vegetative manifestations, the formation of disgust or passion for certain food products in school-age children are related to the intensity and nature of the experienced military stress. Being in occupied territories or near hostilities and subsequent displacement has the greatest impact on the frequency and duration of eating disorders. The formation of long-term eating disorders in all groups is actually a deepening of unhealthy eating habits of schoolchildren, which were demonstrated in previous studies. It is expected that these violations will lead to an increase in the frequency of chronic non-communicable diseases in later life. Conclusions. The obtained results are important for the further interpretation of the results in the framework of the study of children's eating disorders under the conditions of stress caused by the war in Ukraine and providing recommendations for the correction of the detected violations. The research has an important social significance for Ukraine, as it is aimed at solving the psychological and medical consequences of the war.