Abstract

MLADENOVA, Silviya  and  ANDREENKO, Emiliya. Influence of socio-economic and demographic factors, feeding and physical activity on nutritional status of 8-15-year-old Bulgarian children and adolescents: preliminary results. Nutr. Hosp. [online]. 2015, vol.32, n.6, pp.2559-2569. ISSN 1699-5198.  https://dx.doi.org/10.3305/nh.2015.32.6.9883.

Objective: to study of impact of some socio-economic and demographic factors, feeding and physical activity on the prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight among Bulgarian children and adolescents. Material and methods: the sample of this research included 881 children and adolescents from both sexes, aged from 8 to 15 years, that were measured transversally in the period 2012- 2014 in eight government school in Smolyan region, Bulgaria. Of each child the height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. The evaluation of nutritional status was made using the IOTF cut-off points of BMI for children and adolescents. By the questionnaire the information about educational level of parents, number of children in the family, place of residence, nutrition and feeding habits and physical activity of children and adolescents were collected. The data were analyzed by software Statistica 10.0. Results: there is a significant positive relation between the factor "overeating" and the BMI values for both sexes and a negative relation between the factor "meals frequency" and BMI for boys (p<0.05). The significantly higher values of BMI are observed among overeating children in comparison to their peers, who are eating normal or smaller food quantities (p<0.05).The obesity is occur significantly most frequency among children, who eat one-two time per day, compared to those who are having three and more meals per day (p<0.05). Conclusion: the preliminary results of our research show that the main determinants of the overweight, obesity and underweight among the studied Bulgarian children and adolescents, are the factors, related to feeding and eating behavior, and in particular "the overeating" for both sexes and the "dally meal frequency" for boys. The lack of distinctive influence of the factors like level of education of the parents, place of residence - city or village, daily eating regimen and physical activity over BMI and nutritional status of investigated Bulgarian children and adolescents.

Keywords : Socio-economic and demographic factors; Diet; Physical activity; BMI; Overweight; Obesity; Bulgarian children and adolescents.

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