The aim was to study effects of radioactive contamination of a territory on human adaptive mechanisms with special emphasis on cardiovascular risk factors. The adaptive reactions of the human body as a result of long radiation exposure were studied by analyzing heart rate variability and blood pressure. Methods: A sample consisted of 944 residents of the Urals region. Of them, 223 lived in the Techa River basin, into which liquid radioactive waste materials were released, 587 lived in the zone of the East Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT), and 134 residents lived in a non-polluted area. Short electrocardiograms (100 R-R intervals) were recorded. Continuous data were analyzed using Scheffe test two-way analysis of variance. Proportions were analyzed using tests assuming binomial distribution. Results: Heart rate variability and blood pressure were chosen as indicators of adaptive reactions of the human body. Substantial proportion of the population living in radioactive contaminated areas is in the state of the stress, as expressed by the deviation from the normal values of SI (at 52.2 % of the sample), SDNN (at 58.1 % of the sample), and from the normal values of VBI (at 42.7 % of the sample). Mean values of SI among residents of the Techa River basin were significantly different from the corresponding values among study participants from other territories. Conclusions: We observed significant effect of radioactive pollution on the state of adaptation mechanisms of the Urals region population. It is shown that regulatory system is in stress at significant part of population living in radioactive contaminated territories.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of smoking on BMI in male adolescents and explore the relationship between smoking status and diet. Methods: A cross-sectional epidemiological study into the health and diet of adolescents was carried out based on a representative sample of 375 vocational school male students aged 16–17 in the city of Chelyabinsk (Russian Federation). The students and their parents filled out verified questionnaires on their socioeconomic status, diet, and smoking status. Students’ height and body weight were measured. A comparative analysis of diets was performed between groups of smokers and non-smokers (149 and 226 individuals, respectively), and the relationship between smoking, body mass index, and actual diet was estimated. The methods used included descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, comparison of proportions, and moving average. Results: Non-smoking adolescent boys tended to have excess body mass compared with smokers (19.0% and 12.1%, respectively). Smokers (adolescent boys) consumed less meat, cereals, beans, and cheeses and more sweet beverages, added sugar, coffee, and alcohol. The bulk of the smokers’ diet was composed of carbohydrates (p = 0.026) and, to a lesser extent, proteins (p = 0.006). Conclusions: Significant differences were discovered in the diet between smokers and non-smokers (among adolescent boys), and smoking was associated with several indicators of unhealthy diet patterns. This is an important conclusion for developing a future program that could additionally protect at-risk groups of adolescents.

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