The development of children’s respiratory functions and body structural parameters, as well as the relationship between body structural and respiratory parameters were analysed in a subsample of the Second Hungarian National Growth Study (n: 1339 children, aged between 8–17). The spirometric parameters (forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in the 1st second, peak expiratory flow in 1 minute) of children were recorded alongside their body structural parameters. The nutritional status of children was assessed by body mass index, children were divided into underweight, normal, overweight and obese subgroups. There was a significant difference between the two sexes’ respiratory functions in each age-group starting from the age of 13 years. While girls’ pubertal growth started to come to an end at the age of 15 years, boys’ developmental changes only slowed at the age of 17 years and continued even after. By considering nutritional status, it could be observed that overweight and obese children surpass their peers in spirometric functions in almost every age-group. We recommend the use of references of body weight-related spirometric parameters for paediatric use in overweight and obese children, such references of the three studied spirometric parameters are constructed on the basis of the studied sample of Hungarian children. The children scoring below the 5th centile should be considered for further respiratory examinations.

The purpose of the analysis was to identify the risk and protective factors for health behaviour in European adolescents from population health status and expenditure, mental health status, sexual life, social life and education indices and the existence of national strategies, programmes. National and international databases providing information on the presumed health behaviour predictors were used in the analysis. Furthermore, the age and sexual differences in the main information sources on health issues, sexual life, health-risk behaviour, digital awareness, environmental awareness accessed by Hungarian adolescents were analysed. The existence of national health strategies, the level of health expenditure, the socioeconomic conditions, the level of education and literacy had significant influence on the health-risk behaviour of adolescents in the European societies. Hungarian children in early adolescence sought information from family members and experts more frequently, while children preferred to get information from their friends and from the media in middle-adolescence. Sexual dimorphism also appeared in their preferred information sources, a bigger proportion of boys chose media as information source than girls. A significantly smaller proportion of adolescents sought information from the studied sources of sexual life topics than in the other health issues. Individual health decisions of adolescents are influenced by their interaction with family members and experts in early adolescence, and with a bigger influence of friends and media in middle-adolescence. National health strategies combined with governmental support for health prevention and action plans have the most effective impact on the health-risk behaviour of adolescents.