Данные эпидемиологических исследований свидетельствуют, что питание (качество пищи, соблюдение принципов рационального питания) является важнейшим фактором, определяющим здоровье человека, устойчивость к неблагоприятным факторам окружающей сре-ды. В настоящее время вегетарианство распространено во многих странах мира. По данным Росстата, численность приверженцев вегетарианского типа питания среди российского населения незначительна-около 0,3%. Результаты опроса, проведенного в Канаде в 2002 г., показали, что 4% взрослых придерживаются вегетарианского питания, в Соединенных Штатах вегетарианцами являются

The proportion of obese and overweight children is alarmingly high. This dictates the need for promoting healthy lifestyle and eating habits in children. Summer camps provide a wide range of activities to improve children’s health. However, methods used to assess children’s nutritional status during a camp session need to be analyzed in depth, and a rationale should be provided for the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and anthropometric measurements as efficacy criteria for summer camp healthcare. We examined 125 boys and 221 girls aged 8–15 years spending their summer holidays at 3 different camps. Measurements were taken twice: on days 1 and 2 upon arrival to a camp and 2 days before leaving for home. In each camp, both positive and negative health weight dynamics were observed. The overall weight dynamics in children from camps 1 and 2 were statistically insignificant (p = 0.415 and p = 0.585), in contrast to camp 3 where those changes were significant (p = 0.025). BIA revealed that less than 44.34% of children had gained skeletal muscle mass during their stay at the camp, whereas weight loss was associated with both decreased fat and skeletal muscle masses. BIA confirms the results of anthropometric measurements and also provides information about the diet offered to children and their level of physical activity. Therefore, the use of anthropometric measurements and BIA could be an informative method for assessing the efficacy of healthcare in summer camps.

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Health of children and adolescents is an essential criterion of well-being of the society. Monitoring of health among children is impossible without assessment of physical development of children and adolescents. Individual-based analysis of anthropometric characteristics is required to develop personalized preventive activities. Considering different levels of physical load of schoolchildren in case of a disturbed nutritional status, an approach to body mass constituent study that deviates from the normal values requires examination. The study purpose was to assess physical development and component composition in schoolchildren during a medical examination and in children involved in classic swimming at a sports club in the city of Samara. The study object involved children studying at a general educational institution and not engaged in any sports sections (first group), and children involved in classic swimming at a sports club in Samara (second group. Significant differences in basic values of body composition were found during the conducted study of physical development and component composition of schoolchildren who do not go in for sports and junior athletes.

Aim. To define characteristics of growth and development of children and adolescents of school age in the city of Samara.Methods. Measurements of anthropometric parameters of 2617 children aged 7-17 years, of which 1397 children studied in general educational institutions of Samara, 1220 schoolchildren - in the regional centers of the Samara region, were performed. The obtained values of anthropometric parameters of physical development of schoolchildren in Samara were compared with the study results of the appropriate age and sex groups of children and adolescents living in the Samara region.Results. Children of the regional capital and district centers come to school with virtually the same anthropometric parameters. Due to the inhomogeneous influence of conditions and nature of education, nutrition, motor activity indicators of physical development in the educative process acquire significant differences. The height of the city of Samara boys aged 7-15 years is lower than height of peers living in the Samara region (p ˂0.01). Body weight in girls to 9 years, and in boys since 7 years of age is less than in their peers who live in the district centers of the Samara region (p ˂0.05). The chest circumference of the Samara schoolchildren is significantly less than that of their peers of the Samara region in the age groups of 7-14 years in boys and 8-14 years in girls. Waist circumference of Samara boys in the age groups of 7-11 and 13 years and in girls aged 10-14 years is significantly less than that of the Samara region children. Hip circumference of the Samara schoolchildren in junior (7-10 years) and middle (11-14 years) school grades is less than in children of Samara region (p ˂0.05).Conclusion. Revealed differences in anthropometric parameters of children of the city of Samara and Samara region demonstrate the need to develop regional standards to evaluate the physical development of children and adolescents of big cities and rural areas.