Endocrine Abstracts

Physical activity is assumed to be a factor of great importance for weight maintenance. Assessment of physical activity in childhood should be done for identifying patients at risk and predicting obesity development. The aim of our study was to assess physical activity’s importance as a risk factor for weight changes in boys and girls 8-18 years aged. The study include 262 subjects (128 boys, 134 girls) in single country region in Bulgaria (mean age 12.02±3.03 years, mean BMI 20.38±4.36 kg/sq.m). Children were asked to answer unified questions considering information about physical activity (time spent in sport, open air activities and before screen time). The information was assessed regarding BMI and weight problems. Results show that 26.87% of girls and 17.19% of boys have previous problems with body weight and 10.45% of girls and 10.93% of boys have increased body weight at the moment. Two girls (1.49%) and six boys (6.25%) were diagnosed with obesity. BMI showed negative correlation with average time spent in physical activity (r=-0.301) and open-air activities (r=-0.321) and positive correlation with before screen time (r=0.274). No other correlations between healthy and unhealthy activity habits were established. No differences in gender and age were found. Based on our data we found out that physical activity assessment is of great importance for adolescent weight gain and risk of obesity. The increase in active sport activity and decrease of before screen time is crucial for weight maintenance and should be focused by parents in establishing of daily child’s habits