Asociația de Biosiguranță și Biosecuritate din Republica Moldova
Abstract
Introduction. There have been studies that have demonstrated the positive association between the incidence of diseases and irrational nutrition, which is characterized by serious violations of the diet, deficiency of vitamins, minerals, mainly
calcium, magnesium, diets that do not meet regulatory requirements for content
of the main food groups.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between eating behavior
with nutritional status and body composition of high schools’ teachers.
Material and methods. In order to achieve the proposed goal, a descriptive
cross-sectional study was performed. Data collection was carried out in 2 stages.
The first stage was the application of a structured questionnaire that was applied
online. This questionnaire contains a total of 159 questions, of which 96 –
determined the demographic grade and general clinical status,37 referred to the
teachers' diet, 24 were organized in the form of a psychological questionnaire in
which the respondents’ answers were appreciated on a scale with degrees from 0
to 5. The second stage was bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) of a sample
using the TANITA BC730. The study sample consisted of 519 teachers, heads of
departments and directors from a single school board, from the Republic of Moldova. Complex sample analyses were conducted using SPSS version 22.0 (IBM
Corporation, Chicago, IL).
Results. Women represented 97% of respondents from the primary schools and
89% – from the secondary schools. Average age was 46.6±3.77 years old. The
work experience was 20.4±11.3 years. The majority of them were working in public schools (primary school – 4.6%; gymnasium – 52.2%, secondary schools –
43.2%) and 12.3% – in private schools. Most teachers were married (83.4%) and
had in their custody on average 2 children (54.7%). Evaluating the body composition, the following data were obtained: teachers had an average height of
164.6±6.20cm; body mass – 67.9±14.2 kg; the share of body fat-28.4±8.87%; the
muscle mass – 45.6±8.5kg; the bone mass – 2.4±0.42 kg; the BMI – 24.9±4.28;
body water percentage – 52.3±5.89%; the metabolic age – 40±12.6 years; the daily energy requirement – 2370.2±455.11 kcal. More than 25.8±6.25% eat 2 times a
day and more than 28.9±4.89% don't keep track. Around 46.0±9.57% claimed
that they do not eat healthy and 37.6±12.09% said that they do not eat according
to their age. Using Segmental body composition monitor model, we obtained that
in 36.4±11.23% teachers have a subnormal constitutional and normal aesthetic
type, 27.3±7.25% developed an overweight constitutional type and 9.1±0.25% –
obese. More than 90.9±15.92% of teachers were at risk of developing osteoporosis.
Conclusions. The health-saving behavior of teachers in relation to food was not
formed. Teachers' awareness of the requirements of a healthy diet is insufficient,
superficial, as a result, but also due to lack of time and, as the respondents admit,
"laziness", with a sufficiently high motivation of teachers to improve their nutrition. Identified nutritional disorders affect the health and nutritional status of
teachers