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      Nutritional status of preschool children attending kindergartens in Kosovo

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          Abstract

          Background

          There is very limited data on malnutrition of preschool children in Kosovo. The main objective of the study is to provide a nutritional status profile of preschool children attending kindergartens in Kosovo.

          Methods

          Cross-sectional study of children aged 12–59 months ( n = 352 children) and children aged 60–83 months ( n = 134) enrolled in public and private kindergartens of Kosovo. Anthropometric measurements used for this study are weight and height of the preschoolers (12–83 months). A measuring board was used for measuring the length/height of children younger than 2 years, while digital weight and height scale Seca 763 was used for measuring of preschool children taller than 110 and Seca 213 was used for measuring the height for children who were shorter than 110 cm. Statistical analyses of underweight and overweight trends across sex and age groups as well as between children from public and private kindergartens were carried out. Qualitative variables were tested with a chi-square test. The differences between groups were assessed with a Student t test for normally distributed variables and a Mann-Whitney test for abnormally distributed numerical variables.

          Results

          The mean z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age, weight-for-height, and BMI-for-age largely fell within 0.0 and 1.0. The percentage of stunted children is 3%, whereas child wasting is 1.9%. The overall percentage of obese children is 2.3%; furthermore, 8.9% are overweight and 27.3% have a possible risk of being overweight.

          Conclusions

          The incidence of children underweight is slightly decreasing. The prevalence of overweight and obese children in sample chosen is evident.

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          Most cited references17

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          Comparison of overweight and obesity prevalence in school-aged youth from 34 countries and their relationships with physical activity and dietary patterns.

          The purposes of this systematic review were to present and compare recent estimates of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school-aged youth from 34 countries and to examine associations between overweight and selected dietary and physical activity patterns. Data consisted of a cross-sectional survey of 137 593 youth (10-16 years) from the 34 (primarily European) participating countries of the 2001-2002 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was determined based on self-reported height and weight and the international child body mass index standards. Logistic regression was employed to examine associations between overweight status with selected dietary and physical activity patterns. The two countries with the highest prevalence of overweight (pre-obese + obese) and obese youth were Malta (25.4% and 7.9%) and the United States (25.1% and 6.8%) while the two countries with the lowest prevalence were Lithuania (5.1% and 0.4%) and Latvia (5.9% and 0.5%). Overweight and obesity prevalence was particularly high in countries located in North America, Great Britain, and south-western Europe. Within most countries physical activity levels were lower and television viewing times were higher in overweight compared to normal weight youth. In 91% of the countries examined, the frequency of sweets intake was lower in overweight than normal weight youth. Overweight status was not associated with the intake of fruits, vegetables, and soft drinks or time spent on the computer. In conclusion, the adolescent obesity epidemic is a global issue. Increasing physical activity participation and decreasing television viewing should be the focus of strategies aimed at preventing and treating overweight and obesity in youth.
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            Childhood obesity, prevalence and prevention

            Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries. Twenty five percent of children in the US are overweight and 11% are obese. Overweight and obesity in childhood are known to have significant impact on both physical and psychological health. The mechanism of obesity development is not fully understood and it is believed to be a disorder with multiple causes. Environmental factors, lifestyle preferences, and cultural environment play pivotal roles in the rising prevalence of obesity worldwide. In general, overweight and obesity are assumed to be the results of an increase in caloric and fat intake. On the other hand, there are supporting evidence that excessive sugar intake by soft drink, increased portion size, and steady decline in physical activity have been playing major roles in the rising rates of obesity all around the world. Consequently, both over-consumption of calories and reduced physical activity are involved in childhood obesity. Almost all researchers agree that prevention could be the key strategy for controlling the current epidemic of obesity. Prevention may include primary prevention of overweight or obesity, secondary prevention or prevention of weight regains following weight loss, and avoidance of more weight increase in obese persons unable to lose weight. Until now, most approaches have focused on changing the behaviour of individuals in diet and exercise. It seems, however, that these strategies have had little impact on the growing increase of the obesity epidemic. While about 50% of the adults are overweight and obese in many countries, it is difficult to reduce excessive weight once it becomes established. Children should therefore be considered the priority population for intervention strategies. Prevention may be achieved through a variety of interventions targeting built environment, physical activity, and diet. Some of these potential strategies for intervention in children can be implemented by targeting preschool institutions, schools or after-school care services as natural setting for influencing the diet and physical activity. All in all, there is an urgent need to initiate prevention and treatment of obesity in children.
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              Overweight and obesity in infants and pre-school children in the European Union: a review of existing data.

              The objective of this study was to synthesize available information on prevalence and time trends of overweight and obesity in pre-school children in the European Union. Retrieval and analysis or re-analysis of existing data were carried out. Data sources include WHO databases, Medline and Google, contact with authors of published and unpublished documents. Data were analysed using the International Obesity Task Force reference and cut-offs, and the WHO standard. Data were available from 18/27 countries. Comparisons were problematic because of different definitions and methods of data collection and analysis. The reported prevalence of overweight plus obesity at 4 years ranges from 11.8% in Romania (2004) to 32.3% in Spain (1998-2000). Countries in the Mediterranean region and the British islands report higher rates than those in middle, northern and eastern Europe. Rates are generally higher in girls than in boys. With the possible exception of England, there was no obvious trend towards increasing prevalence in the past 20-30 years in the five countries with data. The use of the WHO standard with cut-offs at 1, 2 and 3 standard deviations yields lower rates and removes gender differences. Data on overweight and obesity in pre-school children are scarce; their interpretation is difficult. Standard methods of surveillance, and research and policies on prevention and treatment, are urgently needed.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                agim.rysha@unhz.eu
                tahagj@yahoo.com
                a.ploeger@t-online.de
                Journal
                J Health Popul Nutr
                J Health Popul Nutr
                Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition
                BioMed Central (London )
                1606-0997
                2072-1315
                2 June 2017
                2 June 2017
                2017
                : 36
                : 26
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agribusiness, University of Pejë, Rr. “UÇK-së”, 30000 Pejë, Kosovo
                [2 ]GRID grid.449627.a, Clinical Center of Kosovo, Medical Faculty, , University of Prishtina, ; Mather Theresa, NN 10000 Prishtinë, Kosovo
                [3 ]ISNI 0000 0001 1089 1036, GRID grid.5155.4, Department of Organic Food Quality and Food Culture, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, , University of Kassel, ; Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6073-7843
                Article
                105
                10.1186/s41043-017-0105-1
                5455104
                28578706
                7e8d3dea-d138-4b4a-a8cf-cce2cd84ae83
                © The Author(s). 2017

                Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 3 January 2017
                : 26 May 2017
                Categories
                Research Article
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2017

                Nutrition & Dietetics
                kosovo,preschool children,child underweight,child overweight
                Nutrition & Dietetics
                kosovo, preschool children, child underweight, child overweight

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