Nutritional characteristics of overweight children

Aim: To determine the nutritional characteristics and physical activity level of overweight children. Research objectives: 1. To determine the fitness level of the children and compare it considering the gender. 2. To evaluate the anamnesis of the overweight children with regard to other related pathologies and compare it with the control group. 3. To determine the eating schedule of overweight children and the most commonly chosen products and compare it with the control group. 4. To compare eating habits of children with and without overweight. 5. To evaluate the physical activity level of overweight children and compare it with the control group. The research will be conducted by collecting responses from questionnaires which will be filled by 1st - 4th graders of Kaunas’s primary school “Rūtelė”. Results: The majority of the respondents were considered to be children with normal weight (n=85, 61.6%) and one-quarter of the children was overweight. The majority of children did not have any comorbidities (83.3%, n=115). One-third of the overweight children (33.3%, n=12) had at least one overweight relative (p=0.079). There were more of overweight children to sweeten tea with sugar, and children with normal weight put 1 - 1.5 spoons of sugar less into tea than overweight children (p=0.015). The test group usually ate 1 - 2 slices of white bread daily, while control group ate significantly less of white bread (p=0.024). There were significantly more of normal weight children to drink fresh juice daily (p=0.042) while overweight children ate about 1 kg more of fresh fruit weekly (p=0.045). During past 12 months there were more statistically significant changes in eating habits between children with overweight (p=0.012). It was determined that there were more of control group children to spend about 4 hours while sitting daily than there were overweight children to do so (p=0.031). Conclusion: 1. Most of the children have normal weight and one-quarter of the children is overweight. Considering the age of the children, the majority of overweight respondents are between 8-9 years old. 2. Most of the children do not have any comorbidities. One-third of overweight children has at least one overweight relative. 3. The most common products are milk, fresh vegetables and fruit. There were no significant differences in eating frequency between children with overweight and without overweight. 4. The majority of both of the groups eat breakfast everyday, show efforts to keep a fixed eating schedule, eat a hot main meal for lunch and have snacks between meals. 5. There were no significant statistical difference relating to the physical activity level between the test and control groups