Background: The research aimed to determine how socioeconomic factors influence the body structure and health behaviors of children in a suburban commune. Methods: Data from 376 children aged 6.78 to 11.82 years from Jabłonna, Poland, were analyzed. A questionnaire was used to gather information regarding the socioeconomic status and dietary habits of these children, and physical measurements such as height, weight, pelvic width, shoulder width, chest, waist, hip, and arm circumferences, and three skinfolds were taken. Hip index, pelvi-acromial index, Marty’s index, BMI (body mass index), WHR (waist–hip ratio), and the sum of three skinfolds were calculated. One-way analysis of variance, Student’s t-test, and X2 test with p < 0.05 were used. Results: The size of the family and the level of education and occupation of the fathers had a significant impact on the body proportions of the children. Children from larger centers with more educated parents were seen to have healthier eating habits and higher levels of physical activity, and their parents were less likely to smoke cigarettes. Conclusions: It was concluded that the development environment of the parents, such as their level of education and profession, play a more important role than the size of birthplace.
Students are a specific social group characterized by different lifestyle behaviours. The aim of the study was to determine whether there are lifestyle differences between students of medical and biological fields from three different universities in Poland. The research material consisted of answers from 1163 students (781 women and 382 men), aged 17.5– 26.0 from the medical faculty of the Wroclaw Medical University, biological faculties of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw and the University of Lodz. The survey included questions regarding gender, socio-demographic situation, lifestyle and eating habits. Students also provided height and weight data, which was used for BMI calculation. Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA were used to indicate differences in BMI between students and to estimate differences in lifestyle between students from three different university centres. Medical students exhibited significantly lower BMI values compared to students from other academic centres. They also more often reported doing additional sports and assessed their overall level of physical activity significantly higher compared to students from other academic centres. Biology students reported to sleep longer and being more exhausted compared to medical students. Biology students tended to drink sugar-sweetened beverages and eat fast-food significantly more often than medical students. Students from the medical faculty in Wroclaw reported to smoke cigarettes less often compared to students from non-medical study. There were no significant differences in other studied factors, such as the use of alcohol, snacking between the meals and consumption of energy drinks. Overall, students of medical fields reported a healthier lifestyle compared to their peers from biological faculties, although this was not consistent for all examined factors.
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