Purpose:analysis of school age children's eating behavior. Material:in questioning 408 schoolchildren (15-16 and 17-18 years' age) participated. Distribution by sex was practically equal: 56.62% were girls and 43.38% -boys. The questionnaire included questions about frequency of eating some food during recent 30 days. Separate block of questions was devoted to eating habits and presence of the so-called "food trash" in diet. The bent to alimentary diseases was assessed by incidence of excessive body mass in respondents' families. Results:The determined food consumption permitted to assume the presence of certain eating stereotype: for boys it is directed at development o muscular mass and for girls -mainly of limiting character, connected with diets for correction of constitution. Analysis of some food eating frequency permitted to mark out alimentary risk factors, which require correction and prophylaxis. Conclusions:the found special aspects of eating behavior permit to assess children's health state as pre-nosology of alimentary genesis, manifested in excessive body mass, deficit of essential vitamins, minerals and food fibers; functional disorders of digestion.

Along with physical activity and psycho-emotional status, nutrition is one of the most important indicators of the quality of life, which affect the human body from the moment of birth to the last moments of life. The problem of inadequate nutrition and alimentary-dependent diseases is especially acute in school age. According to official statistical data diseases of the digestive system occupy a leading place among schoolchildren in all age categories. Aim. Assessment of the prevalence of digestive diseases among schoolchildren, determination of the features of catering in educational institutions, study of the nutritional behavior of modern schoolchildren. Materials and methods. Determining the structure of pathological lesions of schoolchildren according to the "Center for Medical Statistics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine". Questioning of 588 parents of elementary school students of two schools in Kharkov on the nutritional behavior of children. Results and discussion. According to official statistics in 2017 digestive diseases occupy the second ranking place among schoolchildren (7.9% among children 7-14 years old, 8.3% among teenagers 15-18 years old) and have tend to increase among teenagers in the dynamics of 5 years. One of the most likely important reasons for the deterioration of children's health is a violation of the nutritional structure and a decrease in its quality. So, (3.6 ± 0.8) % of primary schoolchildren eat only twice a day. Most children eat fish only once a week and 4.5% of schoolchildren have not eaten fish in the last 30 days. Only 43.4% of schoolchildren consume milk and dairy products daily. Assessment of the actual state of school feeding showed the inconsistency in the work of the medical service and teachers in the basic issues of its organization, quality control, distribution of duties and responsibilities. Conclusions. There are high incidence rates for certain classes of diseases аmong school-age children, in particular the digestive system. A negative sign of schoolchildren’s eating behavior is the deficiency of basic nutrients in their daily diet in accordance with physiological needs. The modern state of catering in educational institutions necessitates the implementation of system monitoring of its quality, usefulness, safety, and the physiological needs of direct consumers.

The aim of the work was to investigate how gender, age and type of activity in summer affects the indicators of physical development (PD) of children. 1054 students (493 boys and 561 girls) aged 7-16 years took part in the study. The PD of children was studied by assessing somatometric and physiometric indi­cators. To assess the impact of the type of activity, a thematic questionnaire "Summer" was used. It was found that the gender and age of children had a significant effect on PD indicators in the summer. The most intense increase in body length oc­curred at the age of 7-12 years, body weight - in 10-14-year-olds, and up to 16 years grouth of two parameters gradually slo­wed down. From the age of 10, children showed a positive increase in lung capacity (LC). In 15-year-old adolescents, a de­c­rease in both indicators (ChC and LC) was found. It was found that 62% of children carried out educational activities in the summer, 24% of those were engaged in business activities, almost 40% of students were participants in hiking trips and 23% of children attended a children's health camp. The chosen type of activity in the summer influenced the indicators of the pu­pils' PD as follows: educational activities were accompanied by a decrease in body length and strength of the left arm, busi­ness activity, hiking trips and staying in a health camp were accompanied by an increased weight gain and an increase in LC.

Objective — substantiation of ways to improve the health of students of general secondary education on the basis of determining the nutrition status based on the body mass index (BMI) of adolescents in a large industrial city.Materials and methods. The study was based on a cross-section of a population survey, performed in the period from April to May, 2019, with the use of questionnaire (СС #92695-2019 «Methods for assessing the impact of close social environment on the subjective perception of adolescents’ own health»).Results. The study involved 1191 adolescents aged 11–16 years. Food consumption was estimated by frequency of consumption for one month; body mass index was assessed by WHO standard indicators of physical development (SDS). The following indices of daily consumption have been established: candies (8.03 ± 0.78) %, cakes, pastries (5.8 ± 0.68) %, meat (14.54 ± 1.02) %, sausages (7.62 ± 0.76) %, fish (2.61 ± 0.46) %, milk (11.21 ± 1.9) %, fresh vegetables (19.9 ± 1.15) %. fruits (19.45 ± 1.14) %, mayonnaise, sauces and ketchups (5.47 ± 0.65)%, «fast food» (1.12 ± 0.30)%, street food (steaks, hot dogs) (0.81±0.26)%, snacks (chips, crackers) (1.84 ± 0.38) %, dry pasta «Mivina» (1.43 ± 0.34) %. According to the BMI, (5.3 ± 0.64) % of adolescents had depletion of body weight (BMI <-2SDS); insufficient body weight (BMI <-1 to -2SDS) was registered in (13.6 ± 0.99) % of population; normal body weight (± 1 SDS) was defined in (77.8 ± 1.2) % of adolescents, excessive body weight (BMI from +1 to +2 SDS) in (2,7 ± 0,46) % and obesity (BMI> + 2SDS) in (0.58 ± 0.22) % of children.Conclusions. The priority should be given to promoting health and formation of healthy lifestyle skills among young people. One should pay more attention to the forms and methods of nutrition of children and adolescents, improve the technology of medical, psychological and pedagogical support, and provide recommendations to parents on maintaining good health and proper eating behavior.