Association of lifestyle factors with a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Greek children aged 10-16 years.

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of overweight, obesity and central obesity in students of primary and secondary education, and the association with lifestyle parameters. METHODS: A total of 3504 students, aged 10-16 years old, from Western Greece participated in this cross-sectional epidemiological study (participation rate: 90%). Demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, physical activity and screen time data were obtained using a questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were also obtained. Overweight and obesity were estimated using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria and central obesity using the WHtR ≥0.5 and IDF criteria. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 19.2% and 12.1% with CDC criteria, respectively, and 20.9% and 7.2%, with IOTF criteria respectively. Central obesity was 31.1 and 32.8% using the Waist-to-Height ratio (WHtR) ≥0.5 and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria respectively. Male gender, small number of meals, breakfast skipping, frequent consumption of school food and sweets and the presence of a computer in children's rooms, were identified as the strongest lifestyle factors affecting weight. CONCLUSION: Overweight, obesity and central obesity rates remain high among children and adolescents in Greece. The identification of risk factors associated with the manifestation of obesity and central obesity, may contribute to the implementation of targeted prevention and treatment interventions.

Body-Size Misperception among Overweight Children and Adolescents in Greece: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Childhood obesity can affect both physical and mental health. Body-size misperception may lead to a lack of motivation to make healthy changes or to engage in unhealthy weight loss behaviors, increasing the possibility for obese children to become obese adults. To estimate the frequency of body-size misperception among children and adolescents, we conducted a cross-sectional study within another study on eating disorders in youth in Greece (National Institute of Educational Policy, act no. 04/2018). Between January and December 2019, two trained assistants visited 83 primary and secondary schools of the Region of Western Greece and interviewed 3504 children aged 10-16 years (CL 99%) and performed anthropometric measurements. Among the 3504 surveyed children, 1097 were overweight, including 424 obese, and 51 were underweight. The "perceived" BMI was not computed in 875 children (25%), who did not state their weight or height and were classified as non-responders. Weight bias was inversely related to BMI, the obese and overweight non-obese children underestimated their weight, while the underweight children overestimated it. Conversely, height bias was positively related to BMI bias. BMI bias was not related to sex, age, parental education, or place of residence. In conclusion, our study lends robust support to the existing evidence on unrealistic body images among overweight children and adolescents. Prompt recognition of such misperceptions may help in increasing motivation towards healthier eating habits, systematic physical activity, and weight-control interventions.

Novel combined insulin-like 3 variations of a single nucleotide in cryptorchidism.

Background Insulin-like 3 hormone (INSL3) is involved in the process of testicular descent, and has been thoroughly studied in cryptorchidism. However, INSL3 allelic variations found in the human genome were heterozygous and only a few of them were found exclusively in patients with cryptorchidism. Under this perspective, we aimed to study the presence of INSL3 allelic variations in a cohort of patients with cryptorchidism and to estimate their potential consequences. Methods Blood samples were collected from 46 male patients with non-syndromic cryptorchidism and from 43 age-matched controls. DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed for exons 1 and 2 of the INSL3 gene in all subjects. Sequencing analysis was carried out on the PCR products. All data were grouped according to testicular location. Results Seven variations of a single nucleotide (SNVs) were identified both in patients with cryptorchidism and in controls: rs2286663 (c.27G > A), rs1047233 (c.126A > G) and rs6523 (c.178A > G) at exon 1, rs74531687 (c.191-30C > T) at the intron, rs121912556 (c.305G > A) at exon 2 and rs17750642 (c.*101C > A) and rs1003887 (c.*263G > A) at the untranslated region (UTR). The allelic variants rs74531687 and rs121912556 were found for the first time in the Greek population. The novel homozygotic combination of the three allelic variants rs1047233-rs6523-rs1003887 seemed to present a stronger correlation with more severe forms of cryptorchidism. Conclusions The combination of specific INSL3 SNVs rather than the existence of each one of them alone may offer a new insight into the involvement of allelic variants in phenotypic variability and severity.