War-Induced Disrupted Eating Behaviors in Ukrainian School-Aged Children †
by
, , and
Mariia Gulich
1,*
,
Dina Fedorova
2,
Olena Petrenko
1,
Henna Vepsäläinen
3 and
Maijaliisa Erkkola
3 1
State Institution “O.M. Marzіeiev Institute for Public Health” NAMSU, 02094 Kyiv, Ukraine
2
Department of Food Technology and Organization of Restaurant Business, State University of Trade and Economics, 02156 Kyiv, Ukraine
3
Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia, 14–17 November 2023.
Proceedings 2023, 91(1), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091077
Published: 23 November 2023
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023)
Abstract
:Background and objectives: Russian military aggression in Ukraine has exposed children to extremely high levels of acute and chronic stressors that are incomparable to stress levels in peaceful countries. Such stressors can impact children’s eating behavior, for example, by altering the psychological climate within families. We aimed to determine the prevalence of war-induced, stress-related disruptions in the eating behavior of Ukrainian children. Methods: We used a cross-sectional survey to determine stress-related disordered eating behavior among school-aged children under conditions of stress caused by the war in Ukraine. A total of 5162 parents or guardians used an electronic questionnaire to report changes in the children’s eating behavior (EB) in various stressful conditions, including being in close proximity to the combat zone, residing in occupied or peaceful territories, displacement from homes, abroad, and other. 311 (6%) of participants did not report the age of the child or reported on behalf of a child who was younger than 5 years or older than 17 years, and were thus excluded. Thus, the final sample included 4854 (94%) parents. Results: of the guardians, 63% reported changes in children’s EBs during the war, with the highest frequency observed among 5 to 10-year-olds. The most common EB changes observed during wartime included food cravings (38%), food fussiness (37%), aversion to certain foods (29%), and decreased appetite (24%). 40% of the reported EB changes were long-term, lasting over a month and related to altered attitudes towards food. Food insecurity, residing in occupied territories, and displacement emerged as the most influential determinants of EB changes. Discussion: The findings underscore a significant and robust association between various war-related exposures and an increased risk of frequent eating behavior changes. As healthy eating behaviors are learned during childhood and have been shown to track into adulthood, the identified disruptions in eating behavior may have significant long-term consequences for the physical and mental health of the Ukrainian children. More research is needed to determine whether the intensity of the identified changes in children’s eating habits is linked to the severity of the stressors.
Author Contributions
M.G. and O.P. conceptualization and project administration; M.G., D.F. and O.P. data curation, methodology and original draft preparation; H.V. and M.E. supervision; D.F., H.V. and M.E. funding acquisition. All authors provided critical revisions. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
The research was funded by the Juho Vainio Foundation.
Institutional Review Board Statement
The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Bioethics Committee of the State Institution “O.M. Marzieiev Institute for Public Health” National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (protocol No 4 of 19 July 2022).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
Restrictions apply to the availability of these data. Data was obtained from the State Institution “O.M. Marzіeiev Institute for Public Health” NAMSU, Ukraine.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Gulich, M.; Fedorova, D.; Petrenko, O.; Vepsäläinen, H.; Erkkola, M. War-Induced Disrupted Eating Behaviors in Ukrainian School-Aged Children. Proceedings 2023, 91, 77. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091077
AMA Style
Gulich M, Fedorova D, Petrenko O, Vepsäläinen H, Erkkola M. War-Induced Disrupted Eating Behaviors in Ukrainian School-Aged Children. Proceedings. 2023; 91(1):77. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091077
Chicago/Turabian StyleGulich, Mariia, Dina Fedorova, Olena Petrenko, Henna Vepsäläinen, and Maijaliisa Erkkola. 2023. "War-Induced Disrupted Eating Behaviors in Ukrainian School-Aged Children" Proceedings 91, no. 1: 77. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091077
