Differences in nutritional status and level of physical activity among adolescents living in urban and rural areas of Montenegro - national study.

BACKGROUND: Nutritional status and physical activity are important factors for adolescent health. These factors may vary by the place of residence. This study aims to assess the nutritional status and physical activity levels, as well as their variations by the place of residence. METHODS: The sample consisted of 1503 adolescents (46.3% male; 53.7% female), with a mean age of 15.7 ± 0.7 years. Nutritional status was assessed using Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR), and Body Fat Percentage (BF). Physical activity levels were assessed using the PAQ-C questionnaire. Differences in nutritional status among adolescents living in urban and rural areas were analyzed using Chi-square test (p ≤ 0.05), while differences in physical activity levels were analyzed using an independent samples t-test (p ≤ 0.05). RESULTS: In terms of BMI, 14.7% of males were overweight and 10.1% were obese, while 12% of female adolescents were overweight and 3.1% were obese. There were no differences in nutritional status among adolescents living in urban and rural areas (BMI, WHtR, BF). Male adolescents in rural areas had significantly higher physical activity levels compared to urban areas (p = 0.032). They showed higher activity scores during a spare time (p = 0.002), physical education classes (p = 0.002), little breaks (p = 0.007), and lunchtime (p = 0.034). Female adolescents showed significance only in spare time activity (p = 0.020). CONCLUSION: The differences in nutritional status among adolescents living in urban and rural areas were not found. However, male adolescents living in urban areas showed lower physical activity levels than their rural counterparts. Strategies should be implemented to promote physical activity among adolescents in urban areas, and attention should be given to the further urbanization process to create improved conditions for engaging in physical activity.

The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro.

BACKGROUND: Considering that obesity is characterized today as a public health challenge and an epidemic in many countries in the world and that one of the main predictors for obesity is socio-economic status (SES), the aim of this paper was to assess the relationship between the SES of parents/guardians and female adolescent obesity in Montenegro. METHODS: A stratified random probability sample method was used, and the number of participants in this study was 596, aged 15.8 ± 0.58, from all three regions in Montenegro. As SES was a factor in this research, specific SES parameters such as household wealth and parental educational level were collected for parent/guardian of each child. The following anthropometric indices were utilized to evaluate nutritional status: body mass index (BMI) and waist to height ratio (WHtR). RESULTS: Regarding nutritional status, it can be said that no statistically significant difference between female adolescents according to the regions of Montenegro was found. Of all the adolescents in the study, 15.4% of them were above the normal nutrition level as measured by BMI, while 12.2% were classified as obese by the WHtR. Furthermore, the study found a significant negative relationship between a mother's level of education and obesity in female adolescents, with odds ratios of 0.31 (p = 0.035) and 0.19 (p = 0.009) for secondary and high level education, respectively. This suggests that daughters of mothers with higher levels of education are less likely to be obese. CONCLUSIONS: In regard to the nutritional status of the respondents in this study, their values fell within the normal range compared to the European average. However, the results regarding the relationship between certain SES characteristics and obesity suggest a similarity to developed countries.

Nutritional status of younger primary school children in urban and rural areas of Montenegro in relation to sex and age during COVID-19 pandemic: a national study / Estado nutricional de los niños más pequeños de la escuela primaria en áreas urbanas y rurales de Montenegro en relación con el sexo y la edad durante la pandemia de COVID-19: un estudio nacional

SUMMARY: Prevention and correction of overweight in children and adolescents is also very important for many reasons. According to previous research, the problem tends to vary according to sex, and different ages and the lifestyle in rural and urban areas has changed drastically in recent years and decades. Regarding the above-mentioned, the main goal of this research was to determine the nutritional status of young school children in urban and rural areas of Montenegro in relation to sex and age. The sample in this research has consisted of children aged 6 and 9 (younger school age). The total sample in this research is 800 male and female children who belong to the urban and rural areas of Montenegro. The sample of variables used in this study was: body mass index-percentile values (BMI), and waist circumference and body height ratio (WHtR) which were used as indicators to assess nutritional status. Based on obtained results it could be generally concluded that there are no statistically significant differences in nutritional status between primary school children from urban and rural areas of Montenegro, which is the opposite of what was expected based on previous research, but also which is very important since all subjects in the future can be treated as homogeneous groups when it comes to the impact of environment and lifestyle on the nutrition status of younger school children. On the other hand, it is important to emphasize that the main limitation of this research is that measurements were carried out in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recommendation could be that after the end of the pandemic, special "COVID teams" should be formed, which would consist of experts from various fields of physical culture, sports, and medicine, all with the aim of influencing possible problems with nutritional status and physical activity of young school children caused by a pandemic.

RESUMEN: La prevención y corrección del sobrepeso en niños y adolescentes es muy importante por muchas razones. Según investigaciones previas, el problema tiende a variar según el sexo, las diferentes edades y el estilo de vida en las zonas rurales y urbanas ha cambiado drásticamente en los últimos años y décadas. Con respecto a lo mencionado anteriormente, el objetivo principal de esta investigación fue determinar el estado nutricional de los niños pequeños en edad escolar en áreas urbanas y rurales de Montenegro en relación con el sexo y la edad. La muestra en esta investigación ha estado compuesta por niños de 6 y 9 años (menor edad escolar). La muestra total en esta investigación fue de 800 niños y niñas que pertenecían a las zonas urbanas y rurales de Montenegro. La muestra de variables utilizadas en este estudio fue: índice de masa corporal-valores percentiles (IMC), circunferencia de la cintura y relación talla corporal (RCCE), los cuales se utilizaron como indicadores para evaluar el estado nutricional. Sobre la base de los resultados obtenidos, se pudo concluir en general que no existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el estado nutricional entre los niños de primaria de las zonas urbanas y rurales de Montenegro, que es lo contrario de lo que se esperaba en base a investigaciones anteriores, pero que también es muy importante, ya que todos los temas en el futuro pueden ser tratados como grupos homogéneos en lo que respecta al impacto del medio ambiente y el estilo de vida en el estado nutricional de los niños en edad escolar más pequeños. Por otro lado, es importante recalcar que la principal limitación de esta investigación fue que las mediciones se realizaron en plena pandemia de COVID-19, y la recomendación podría ser que luego de finalizada la pandemia, equipos especiales "COVID", que estaría integrado por expertos de diversas áreas de la cultura física, el deporte y la medicina, todo ello con el objetivo de incidir en los posibles problemas del estado nutricional y de actividad física de los jóvenes escolares provocados por una pandemia.