OBJECTIVE

To assess the nature of nutrition and eating habits of children and adolescents depending on the place of residence (city, village) in the Kyrgyz Republic.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study used a two-stage selection of schoolchildren in grades 6-11 (age 11-18) to conduct an anonymous survey. 6 schools were selected (3 urban and 3 rural). A total of 1001 pupils aged 11-18 were interviewed: 415 boys (41.5%) and 586 girls (58.5%). The questionnaire includes 38 questions from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) Standard Core Questionnaire and additionally selected nutritional questions from the Interepid multiple choice study protocol. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistics 64 software for Windows. Differences between the compared groups were assessed by the Z-test. The p<0.05 value is taken as a threshold level of statistical significance when using any statistical methods.

RESULTS

Excessive consumption of sugar, sweets and confectionery products was noted in 34.2% of urban and 33.2% of rural schoolchildren; urban adolescents (71.3%) consume carbonated soft drinks more often than rural adolescents (64.3%); fast food in the city is consumed by 46% of children and adolescents, in the village — 41.6%; vegetables and fruits are reliably less likely to be consumed by adolescents in the rural population (58.8%) compared with the urban population (50.4%); excessive consumption of animal fats was recorded in 12.9% of urban and 11.4% of rural children and adolescents; insufficient fish consumption — in 89.2% and 89.9%, respectively; urban schoolchildren (36.5%) significantly more often include milk, kefir, yogurt in their diet compared to rural students (30.4%).

CONCLUSION

The results obtained indicate a high frequency of unbalanced nutrition in children and adolescents in both rural and urban populations. At the same time, urban adolescents more often consumed carbonated soft drinks, and rural schoolchildren less often consumed vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy products.