Childhood obesity: modern approaches to prevention under adverse current conditions

Objective — to analyze individual eating behaviors based on the psychological health status of adolescents with obesity during wartime. Materials and methods. The study included 50 adolescents aged 14—18 years with obesity who were in the clinic of the SI «Institute for Children and Adolescents Health Care of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine» during 2023—2024. Clinical, anamnestic, laboratory and instrumental examination of patients were examined in accordance with the standards of medical care «Obesity in Children. Evidence­-based clinical guidelines (2022)». According to the study design, the nature of eating behavior was determined using the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Psychological characteristics were studied using the resilience scale (CD­-RISC-­10), the general self­-esteem questionnaire (G.M. Kazantseva) and the Spielberger­—Khanin questionnaire. Database creation and statistical processing of results were carried out using the application software packages Microsoft Excel and SPSS 17.0. The significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results and discussion. The conducted studies revealed a significant influence of psychological factors on the nature of eating behavior (EB) in today’s adverse conditions. In the group with a low level of resilience, 83 % of patients had a restrictive type (RT) of EB. With an average level of resilience, the frequency of RT EB was 37 %, and with a high level — only 27 % (p < 0.05). According to the analysis of the questionnaire of general self­esteem of adolescents (G.M. Kazan­t­seva), 100 % of patients with low self-­esteem had signs of RT EB, among patients with average self-­esteem — 42 %, and with high — only 18 % of the examined (p < 0.05). RT EB was also registered in 75 % of adolescents with high levels of personal anxiety and in 68 % with high levels of reactive anxiety. Thus, against the background of psychological distress, the most dangerous of all eating behavior options in adolescents was more frequently revealed. Conclusions. The results obtained indicate a significant impact of acute and chronic stress on the psychological state of children in conditions of military events in Ukraine. All this leads to low stress tolerance, anxiety, etc., contributes to the formation of eating disorders, which also plays an important role in the development of obesity. Thus, today, a significant condition for the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity is psychological support and early intervention by mental health professionals.