RELATIONSHIP OF THE PERCEIVED STRESS LEVEL, ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICATORS AND BODY COMPOSITION IN CHILDREN EXPERIENCING PERMANENT NEGATIVE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE WAR IN UKRAINE
Authors:   State Institution «National Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Hematology and Oncology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine», Poznysz V. A. , Leonovych O. S. ,   State Institution «National Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Hematology and Oncology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine», Vdovenko D. V. ,   National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine
Published: December 2024

Objective: to assess the impact of stressful life events occuring with the period of restrictive measures introduction connected to the COVID-19 pandemic and during the full-scale Russian aggression, on the anthropometric indicators and body composition of children aged 10–17 years.
Materials and methods. The research group consisted of 56 boys and 70 girls aged 10–17 years who lived in radioactively contaminated areas of Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Kyiv regions with a soil contamination density of 137Cs from 18 kBq/m2 to 235 kBq/m2. The impact of stressful factors was assessed using the stress perception scale (PSS-10). Weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) were measured. Body mass index (BMI), ratio of WC to HC, ratio of WC to height were calculated. Body composition (fat content, skeletal muscle content, visceral fat index and basal metabolic rate) was determined using OMRON smart scales based on the bioelectrical impedance method.
Results. The vast majority of examined children (76.19 %) had a high level of perceived stress, while girls in general more often considered certain life events as stressful. «Direct witnessing of hostilities» was the strongest triggering stress factor, and «Location of a loudspeaker warning of danger near the house» was a reinforcing stress factor. «Negative impact of COVID-19» factor did not significantly affect the level of perceived stress at present. A probable current effects of the interaction of gender, age and level of stress perception were established, which were characterized by a decrease in the level of stress perception in boys with minimum indicators at the age of 16–17 and, conversely, an increase in the level of stress perception in girls with maximum indicators at the same age. Gender and age characteristics of anthropometric values and indicators of body structure were determined. It was shown that with age, the index of visceral fat in boys gradually decreased, while in girls, on the contrary, it increased, reaching a probable difference at the age of 16–17 years. Perceived stress level had direct correlations with weight, BMI, HC, WC, WtHR index, visceral fat index, total fat content and an inverse relationship with skeletal muscle content. The dependent variable visceral fat index and the categorical factor – level of perceived stress revealed a significant current interaction effect of sufficient power for both males and females. Anthropometric values and indicators of body structure had no probable dependence on the activity of 137Cs in the body of children and their average annual accumulated doses of internal radiation. A weak inverse relationship between the level of perceived stress and the activity of 137Cs in the body of children and their average annual accumulated doses of internal radiation was established.
Conclusions. The vast majority of children perceive the events taking place in Ukraine as stressful. Several changes in anthropometric indices and indicators of body structure, in particular an increase in visceral fat index are closely related to the increased level of perceived stress. The level of perceived stress inversely correlated with the activity of 137Cs in the body of children and their average annual accumulated doses of internal radiation.
Key words: children; COVID-19; war; perceived stress; anthropometric indicators; body composition; abdominal obesity.