Dr.Biol., professor E.Z. Godina^1,2
PhD E.Yu. Permyakova^1
1Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow
²Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism (SCOLIPE), Moscow

Keywords: modern children and adolescents, physical activity, calorie intake, body composition, anthropometry.

Introduction. The study of the relationship between the body composition and lifestyle is of great interest for a number of scientific disciplines. Most of the works on this topic (Dayan et al., 2019; Merhout, Doyle, 2019 and others) are devoted to determining the relationship between the calorie intake and the level (and quality) of physical activity with body composition and body mass index (BMI) indices. This is of a certain value in the context of the term “obesogenic” environment, which has been frequently used in recent years (Rendina et al., 2019), as a complex of factors leading to a decrease in the level of physical activity (up to hypodynamia) and a steady increase in the calorie intake (it has been proved that BMI is negatively related to the distance to the nearest fast food restaurant (Wilkins et al., 2019)).

Objective of this study was to identify intergroup variability in morphological characteristics, as well as indicators of physical activity and nutritional status in modern adolescents living in different locations of the Russian Federation.

Methods and structure of the study. The results of comprehensive anthropological examinations of 15-17-year-old schoolchildren in the cities of Elista, Arkhangelsk and Moscow, were taken for this study. In Arkhangelsk and Moscow the investigated children were of Russian origin, in Elista – Kalmyck children and adolescents were investigated. All measurements were carried out according to the standard method.

Calorie intake and level of physical activity were assessed using a questionnaire; body composition indices and metabolic rates (basal and specific) were determined by bioimpedance analyzer according to the standard method (Smirnov et al., 2009).

The collection of data was carried out with the signing of consent protocols, subsequently the data were depersonalized.

All calculations were performed with the Statistica 12.0 software package. The choice of data processing methods was determined after checking the normality test for the number of indicators, therefore, to compare the means in the case of metabolic parameters, as well as indicators of the caloric content of the diet and the level of physical activity, the Kruskell-Wallis test was used (the non-normal distribution was confirmed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). In other cases, the assessment of intergroup differences was carried out using the methods of one-way ANOVA.

Results and discussion.

Morphological characteristics

The larger values of the considered traits were characteristic of adolescents in Arkhangelsk, the minimum values were recorded among the residents of Elista (Table 1).

Table 1. Descriptive statistics (M±S) of the following morphological traits in the three groups studies (A – Arkhangelsk, M – Moscow, E – Elista)

Note: * - differences are significant when comparing the values of the indicator among Arkhangelsk and Elista,  ** - differences are significant when comparing the values of the indicator among Moscow and Elista,   *** - differences are significant when comparing the values of the indicator among Arkhangelsk and Moscow

Data from the questionnaires. The results (Table 2) suggest that the schoolgirls of Elista when compared to the other groups spend more time to work in conditions of hypokinesia and less - for physical activity. At the same time, the maximum daily calorie intake has been confirmed for them. For the boys, the trend is somewhat different: for example, the increased energy value of food consumed in this group is combined with minimal time spent on physical activity and sedentary work. Arkhangelsk and Moscow schoolchildren were almost the same in calorie intake but demonstrated different patterns for the daily routine. Thus, female residents of the capital spent more time working in conditions of hypokinesia, and young men have the highest value of this indicator among all groups. As for the level of physical activity, Moscow schoolchildren are ahead of their peers from other cities, and the inhabitants of the Russian North take an intermediate position, according to the amount of time spent on it.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics (M±S) of calorie intake, time spent on hypokinetic work and physical activity in the three groups studied (A – Arkhangelsk, M – Moscow, E – Elista)

Intergroup pairwise comparisons recorded the differences in the amount of time spent on hypokinetic work for boys: schoolchildren in the capital of Russia paid more attention for this type of leisure, residents of Arkhangelsk were in second place, followed by those from Elista. The maximum number of statistically significant differences was also confirmed for physical activity: in the groups of girls - between Muscovites and those living in Elista, as well as between the latter and the inhabitants of Arkhangelsk. In groups of boys - between the residents of the capital at one pole and the residents of Elista and the city of Arkhangelsk on the other (between the last two groups the differences are very small).

Metabolic indicators. As can be seen from Table 3, the maximum values of basal metabolic rate were found in girls and boys of Arkhangelsk, while the specific metabolic rate was the highest in groups of Moscow schoolchildren of both sexes.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics (M±S) of metabolic indicators in the three groups studied (A – Arkhangelsk, M – Moscow, E – Elista)

To support this hypothesis, the amount of skeletal-muscle and fat mass in the groups surveyed was also compared (Table 4).  According to the results, the girls of Arkhangelsk are characterized by the minimum values of skeletal-muscle mass, both in absolute and relative expression. At the same time, a high proportion of the fat component allows to conclude that it is it that contributes more to the maximum body weight observed in this group. As for the Arkhangelsk boys, the percentage of skeletal-muscle mass in this group is minimal, but in its absolute amount they occupy an intermediate position. The fat component in this group is higher than in the other two. Moscow schoolchildren are characterized by a greater amount of skeletal-muscle component and the minimum values of fat mass for the three groups studied. Teenagers from Elista are characterized by intermediate values of skeletal-muscle mass in the case of girls and minimal in the case of boys. The fat component shows a slightly different picture: its absolute value is minimal in teenagers of both sexes, and the relative one has intermediate values among the groups.

Table 4. Descriptive statistics (M±S) of body mass components in the three groups studied (A – Arkhangelsk, M – Moscow, E – Elista)

Acknowledgements

The study was performed with the support of the project № АААА-А19-119013090163-2.

References

1. Godina E., Gundegmaa L., Permyakova E. (2019) Comparative analysis of total body dimensions and functional characteristics of rural and urban children and adolescents of Mongolia. Moscow University Herald. Series 23: Anthropology. No. 1. pp. 35–48.
2. Smirnov A.V., Kolesnikov V.A., Nikolaev D.V., Erukova T.A. (2009)
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Corresponding author: ekaterinapermyakova@gmail.com

Abstract

Objective of the study was to identify the intergroup variability of morphological characteristics, as well as indicators of physical activity and nutritional status in modern adolescents.

Materials and methods. The paper provides the results of a comprehensive examination of adolescents in the cities of Elista, Arkhangelsk and Moscow. The analysis included morphological characteristics, body composition indicators, as well as personal data, taking into account the calorie daily calorie intake, as well as the amount of time spent on physical activity and work in conditions of hypodynamia.

All calculations were performed with the Statistica 12.0 software package. The choice of data processing methods was determined after checking the normality test for the number of indicators, therefore, to compare the means in the case of metabolic parameters, as well as indicators of the caloric content of the diet and the level of physical activity, the Kruskell-Wallis test was used (the non-normal distribution was confirmed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). In other cases, the assessment of intergroup differences was carried out using the methods of one-way ANOVA

Results and conclusion. It has been recorded that the overweight in Arkhangelsk adolescents of both sexes determines the high values ​​of basal metabolic rates in this group. At the same time, a low level of physical activity has a negative effect on the development of the musculoskeletal component, that is, increased body weight values ​​are associated in this group to a greater extent with its fat component. Residents of the capital have intermediate values ​​among the three groups surveyed for most of the morphological indicators and minimum indicators of exchange. In this case, however, it is this group that is characterized by the maximum amount of time allocated to physical activity. The results obtained indirectly indicate the presence of a certain level of socio-economic differences in the surveyed cities.