Selected nutritional behaviors in children and youth at school age – preliminary study

Purpose: To evaluate diet, frequency and type of products consumed and offered at school shops. Materials and methods: Studies were conducted in 2014 among 159 pupils of three randomly selected schools in Bialystok (elementary school, middle school, and high school). The original anonymous questionnaire was used as a research tool. Analysis of results depending on age of the respondents was performed using contingency tables and Pearson's chi-squared test. For hypothesis testing evaluation, significance level of 0.05 was assumed. Results: Consumption of four or more meals during the day was declared by more than half of respondents. Three meals were consumed by 41.5% of middle school pupils, 29.8% of primary school children, and 27.1% of secondary school pupils. Percentage of pupils eating meals outside the home increased with age. Elementary school pupils (91.5%) took water to school significantly more often than middle school or high school pupils (64.2% and 54.2% respectively) (p<0.05). The highest percentage of pupils buying fast food at school was elementary school children, while sweet rolls were mostly bought by middle school pupils (75.5%). Elementary school pupils (78%) are provided information on healthy eating habits from family and school, while middle school (66%) and high school pupils (74.6%) receive this information from the media and magazines. Conclusions: Dietary mistakes reported in the group of pupils were more pronounced with age of respondents. Buying at school shops was associated with an increase in the amount of junk food at the cost of nutritious foo

Snacking in children according to age

Introduction: One of the major nutritional mistakes committed by children and adolescents is snacking between meals. Sweet or salty snacks are rich in simple sugars, fats, preservatives and dyes, and poor in minerals and vitamins. Their excessive consumption can lead to the development of diet-related diseases in the future. Purpose: To evaluate the nutrition of children and adolescents with a focus on snacking between meals. Materials and methods: The study included 162 students from Bialystok schools, of which primary school students accounted for 30.2%, junior high school 38.3%, high school 31.5%. The questionnaire used by the authors contained 27 questions. Results: Regular meals were consumed by only 55.1% of primary school students, 35.5% of junior high school, and 37.3% of high school students. Two and fewer meals a day were consumed by 1.6% to 5.8% of the students studied. First breakfast was omitted by 18.4% of the students in elementary school, 16.1% of junior high school, and 15.7% of high school. Second breakfast was omitted by 12.9% to 17.6% of the respondents.Sweet products instead of a second breakfast were consumed by 44.9% of primary school students, 61.3% of junior high school, and 64.7% of high school students. Snacking most often occurred in the respondents' home (69.4% of elementary school students, 43.5% of secondary level students, and 52.9% of high school students). Water in school was drunk by 85.7% of primary level students, 56.5% of junior high school, and 51.0% of high school. The main source of knowledge about nutrition for 61.2% of primary level students was the family, while television, radio, and the Internet were the main sources of knowledge for 62.7% of high school students. Conclusions: The regularity of eating in the study group decreased with the studied students’ age. The most popular products in the group of younger students were salty snacks and sweets. Healthy snacking was observed more frequently in the group of high school students. The main place of snacking was the home. The primary source of knowledge about nutrition for primary school students was the family and for high school students the mass media

Selected risk factors for spastic cerebral palsy in a retrospective hospital–based case control study

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain and can occur during pregnancy, during childbirth, or following birth. Purpose: To study the selected risk factors for spastic CP in a retrospective study involving children with CP. Materials and methods: The study population included 92 children with spastic CP. The analysis of data from the case records of both groups included the following: child’s age, gender, pregnancy order, birth order, type of birth, time of birth, Apgar scores, birth weight, epilepsy, and psychomotor development. Results: CP occurred more often in boys. A total of 27 children had congenital hemiplegia, 35 had diplegia, and 30 had spastic tetraplegia. The mean gestational age at birth for children with CP was 35.96 ± 4.2 weeks versus a mean of 39.2 ± 1.4 (p<0.001) for the control group. The mean number of pregnancies and deliveries for mothers of children with CP compared to the control group did not differ significantly. Vaginal births and cesarean sections in the group of children with CP and controls occurred in similar percentages. The birth weight of children with CP (2615.8 ± 935.1) was significantly lower than the birth weight among the control group (3343.2 ± 497) (p=0.04). Almost 40 percent of the children with CP were born to mothers who had preterm labours compared to only 5.2 percent of controls. A mean Apgar score for children with CP (5.9 ± 3.3) at 1 minute was significantly lower than that for children without CP (9.10 ± 1.5) (p<0.001). Of the children with CP, 20 percent had epilepsy; none of the children without CP had epilepsy; 22 percent had slight delays, 17 percent had moderate delays, and 12 percent had severe delays. Conclusions: Gender, prematurity, low birthweight, asphyxia and epilepsy were related to the development of CP

Helicobacter pylori in the population of the developmental age

Helicobacter pylori – Gram-negative rod, discovered more than 30 years ago, has a proven influence on inflammation of gastric and duodenal mucosa. The worldwide prevalence of H. pylori infection in the human population is estimated at 50% and is considered to be one of the most frequent bacterial infections in people. Many studies suggest that infection takes place in the early childhood within the family. The gastric mucosa is its natural habitat. In last time more and more findings about existence of this bacteria in another places of gastrointestinal tract and correlation with many diseases, especially an inflammation of oral cavity. The percentage of H. pylori detectability in the oral cavity ranges from 0 to 100%. Thus, more studies aimed at final determination of the bacterium reservoir in the oral cavity seem to be necessary

The assessment of empathic understanding and control of emotions in parents of children with autism

Introduction: Problems of families with autism are generally not visible or manifested, but without support, they become economically and educationally inefficient. Purpose: To assess the degree of empathic understanding of the child and the degree of emotional control by parents. Materials and methods: The study included 30 families from Poland, 25 from Belarus and 28 from France. We used Empathy Understanding Others questionnaire (KRE) and The Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS). Results: The most common difficulty reported in the care of a child was gaining his/her independence (66.7% in Poland, 84% in Belarus, 78.6% in France). Parents from Poland more often (26.7%) than others (12% in Belarus, 3.6% in France) pointed out that the disability of a child caused that their friends turned their back to them. 40% of parents from Poland, 60% from Belarus and 57.1% from France claimed that the spouses accept the disability of the child. The disability induced in parents mainly fatigue (76.7% from Poland, 44% from Belarus, 71.4% from France). The level of empathy in Polish (64.2 ± 6.2) and French parents (64.8 ± 11.6) was almost identical, and the highest was among Belarusian parents (70.3 ± 8.3). Overall rate of CECS of the surveyed parents was at the average level (from Poland 47.4 ± 4.9; from Belarus 44.8 ± 6.1, from France 48.1 ± 6.0). Conclusions: Nurses evaluated their own preparation for educational activities usually very low. In the majority they would not want to take up the difficult role of educators of parents of autistic children. Due to a potential contact of a nurse with a child with autism and the child’s family, it is advisable to extend the knowledge of nurses in the care of a child with autism

Eating habits of urban youth aged 16-18

Introduction: Nutrition is one of the most essential factors conditioning normal human growth and development. Nutritional errors can be the basis for the emergence and development of obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis or postural defects. Purpose: The study aimed to learn about the dietary habits of urban high-school youth. Materials and methods: The study was conducted using the original questionnaire in 2013 and covered 200 students of randomly selected high schools. Results: Among the subjects, 70.8% consumed 4 or 5 meals during the day. The boys have eaten five meals significantly more often during the day than girls. The first breakfast was consumed by 76.5% of students and the second breakfast with 69.7%. Of the subjects, 80% indicated the eating between meals. The girls preferred sweets, fruit, and sandwiches, and the boys had sandwiches, sweets, and dairy drinks. The highest percentage of the examined youth ate sweets 3-4 times a week (41.6% girls and 35.6% boys). The respondents who consumed fast food once a week constituted of 60.9% of girls and 48.7% of boys. The girls consumed sweetened drinks most often once a week, and boys 3-4 times a week. Conclusions: Nutritional errors of adolescents consisted of irregular consumption of meals, late time of the last meal before bedtime, consumption of a large number of sweet and spicy snacks and sweetened beverages were found. Wrong nutrition concerned both girls and boy