site.btaOne in Four Bulgarian Pupils Is Obese

114 LIFESTYLE - OBESITY - CHILDREN - STUDY

One in Four
Bulgarian Pupils
Is Obese


Sofia, October 11 (BTA) - One in four Bulgarian pupils is obese; a downward trend is being observed in the case of girls but an upward trend, in the case of boys, Assoc. Prof. Svetoslav Handzhiev of the Bulgarian Association for the Study of Obesity and Related Diseases (BASORD) said at the BTA National Press Club on Thursday. In his words, poor dietary habits formed before the age of 7 and the sedentary lifestyle are risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, among others.

He also said that Bulgarian children aged between 6 and 9 spend 25 to 26 hours a week in front of a screen, while their peers in the Netherlands and Belgium do this for 14 hours a week, according to a study conducted in seven European countries. Prof. Zheni Staykova of the BASORD specified that children up to 10 years of age should not spend more than an hour a day on screens.

Bulgaria is last in the EU for milk consumption but second for the consumption of fruit, Assoc. Prof. Handzhiev also said.

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