EATING HABITS OF MALE ADOLESCENTS IN RELATION TO BMI-FOR-AGE AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE

Introduction: It has been proven that girls have better eating habits, and therefore the aim was to assess dietary behavior of boys, taking into account BMI-for-age and place of residence observed as urban or rural, in the Canton of Sarajevo. Material (participants) and methods: The study included 60 adolescent boys from rural and 264 from urban areas of the Canton of Sarajevo, aged 13-15. Methods that were used: anthropometric measurements (measurement of body weight and body height in order to calculate the BMI-for-age percentile) and a purpose-designed questionnaire about eating habits by which eating pattern was graded as proper or improper. Data were statistically analyzed by using SPSS 13.0 programme. Results: The majority of participants were normal weighted (urban vs. rural 58.30%:70.00%), followed by overweight (urban vs. rural 24.20% 20.00%) and obese (urban vs. rural 14.40%:10.00%). Category of underweight was only present in adolescents from urban areas with 3.00%. Statistical significance of adolescents\u27 nutritional status from urban areas was found for the number of daily meals (p=0.039), regular consumption of breakfast (p=0.009), diverse diet (p=0.049) and consumption of snacks (p=0.037). In adolescents from rural areas, the statistical significance was found between their nutritional status and consumption of carbohydrate foods (p=0.024). Conclusion: Although no statistical significance of BMI-for-age in relation to the place of residence was found, higher percentage of adolescents from rural areas have normal weight, while both groups have high percentage of overweight. Eating habits need to be studied further, with additional factors to examine in the default settings

DIFFERENCES IN CONSUMPTION OF MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS IN ADOLESCENT DIET ACCORDING TO THE GENDER AND THE PLACE OF RESIDENCE

There is accelerated growth in adolescence, increase of muscle mass, the maturation and increased physical activity. Milk is a complete food which contains many nutrients and meets needs for calcium, magnesium, selenium, riboflavin, vitamins B12 and B5. The protein in cow milk is of high-quality (defined as protein that supports maximal growth), containing a good balance of all the essential amino acids, including lysine. Because of the above mentioned a survey has been conducted about the consumption of milk and dairy products among adolescents in the Canton of Sarajevo. The study included 630 participants, 60 boys and 73 girls from the rural and 264 boys and 233 girls from the urban part of the Canton of Sarajevo. The participants were 13-15 years old. The used questionnaire is classified as a semi-quantitative, which involves the amount and the frequency of consumed foods and which represents a modified questionnaire used in a similar research among adolescents in the Canton of Sarajevo. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 22.0. The results by the place of residence show that milk consumption is more present in urban rather than in rural areas. The quantities of milk/yogurt/cheese and the living area are statistically independent. When considering the gender and the place of residence, the test has showed that there is a difference in the distribution of daily quantity of consumed milk between urban and rural areas, within adolescent girls. Taking into account only the gender, adolescent boys more frequently consume milk and dairy products than adolescent girls

Impact of COVID-19 confinement on eating behaviours across 16 European countries: The COVIDiet cross-national study

We aimed to evaluate the changes in eating behaviours of the adult population across 16 European countries due to the COVID-19 confinement and to evaluate whether these changes were somehow related to the severity of the containment measures applied in each country. An anonymous online self-reported questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, validated 14-items Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) Adherence Screener (MEDAS) as a reference of a healthy diet, eating and lifestyle behaviours prior to and during the COVID-19 confinement was used to collect data. The study included an adult population residing in 16 European countries at the time of the survey. Aggregated Stringency Index (SI) score, based on data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, was calculated for each country at the time the questionnaire was distributed (range: 0–100). A total of 36,185 participants completed the questionnaire (77.6% female, 75.2% with high educational level and 42.7% aged between 21 and 35 years). In comparison to pre-confinement, a significantly higher adherence to the MedDiet during the confinement was observed across all countries (overall MEDAS score prior to- and during confinement: 5.23 ± 2.06 vs. 6.15 ± 2.06; p < 0.001), with the largest increase seen in Greece and North Macedonia. The highest adherence to MedDiet during confinement was found in Spain and Portugal (7.18 ± 1.84 and 7.34 ± 1.95, respectively). Stricter contingency restrictions seemed to lead to a significantly higher increase in the adherence to the MedDiet. The findings from this cross-sectional study could be used to inform current diet-related public health guidelines to ensure optimal nutrition is followed among the population, which in turn would help to alleviate the current public health crisis