Secular trend in growth and nutritional status in a sample of girls aged 7-9 years from Serbia.

Secular trend changes over time and therefore is a marker of the public health of the populations. The aim of the study is to compare the anthropometric data of 7-9 year-old girls obtained in recent investigations in Serbia with data from 1980/81, by using Z-score and percentile classification systems, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC anthropometric criteria. In 1980 and 1981 we used data for 800 schoolgirls aged 6.50-9.49 years. The data for the period 2011-2016 were obtained from recently conducted field investigations in certain parts of the Vojvodina region and from the East and Central Serbia. In total, 1313 girls were included in both investigations. Mean Z-score values for height-for-age, weight-for-age and BMI-for-age in the present sample were compared with the corresponding values for the period 1980/81, and also compared with the reference. The results show that nutritional status Z-scores indicate similar mean values in both investigations. The secular trend of height has slowed down, but the percentage of girls with normal weight is considerably lower in the second investigation. The results indicate that nutritional problems are more common among present generation of girls. Both the problems of underweight and overweight in girls aged 7-9 have to be addressed.

Relationship between overweight, obesity and socioeconomic factors of adolescents in Vojvodina, Serbia.

Obesity is a very important issue in developed societies and depends on many factors. The aim of this paper was to determine a possible relationship between overweight, obesity and socioeconomic factors among adolescents in Vojvodina. A cross-sectional anthropometric study was carried out from 2001 to 2004 in towns of Vojvodina, northern Serbia. The research included height and body weight measurements as well as body mass index (BMI) of 1236 schoolboys and 1414 schoolgirls aged 15-18 years. The socioeconomic factors (SES) included parents' level of education and monthly income per family member. The overweight prevalence of about 10% (8595) were recorded in both male and female adolescents. A significant correlation (p<0.01) between all socioeconomic factors was observed in male subjects, although there were no significant differences in the prevalence of overweight and obesity when different categories of subjects set by SES were compared. In females lower rates of the prevalence of overweight and obesity were detected in the subjects whose parents had a university education, but the difference was not significant. Regarding the prevalence of obesity, a significant difference was recorded between females with high and low incomes, those with a high income showing significantly greater prevalence of obesity than females coming from low income families. The results of the research indicate that in Vojvodina the family income is the only factor that significantly correlates with female obesity.

Body height and weight of children in Novi Sad.

BACKGROUND: Height and weight are the most important measures of growth and development and indirect indicators of living conditions. The socio-economic conditions in Serbia have varied drastically. In 1990, a political and economic crisis started causing a rapid fall of standards of living. AIM: The study aimed to determine the height and weight of children aged 3-11 in the periods between 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 in Novi Sad, Serbia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This investigation was carried out in the same primary schools and pre-school institutions. The data included children of Serbian nationality born in Novi Sad whose parents were also born there and had the same socio-economic background. RESULTS: Positive changes in height and weight were recorded in the decades 1971-1981 and 1981-1991, except for the height of 8-year-old children. In the period 1991-2001, an increase in height was observed only at the age of 8 in boys and until the age of 9 in girls. As for weight, an increase was recorded in 9-year-old boys, while in girls it was present at all ages except for the ages of 7 and 10. Considering the period 1971-2001, positive changes in height were recorded from the age of 6 in boys and 5 in girls. The changes in weight were positive at all ages except the age of 5 in boys and after the age of 6 in girls. CONCLUSION: Lower values of height and weight recorded in 2001 are probably due to the changes in living conditions or they indicate that the acceleration reached its peak.