Assessment of Nutrition for Schoolchildren in the Privolzhsky Federal District as a Risk factor for Overweight and Nutrition-Related Diseases

INTRODUCTION: Nutrition is one of the most important factors influencing the health of the population, which is one of the priority areas of the government policy. Poor nutrition is considered one of the leading causes of nutrition-related diseases, among which the leading place belongs to obesity. AIM: Scientific substantiation of regionally oriented preventive measures to influence key risk factors for obesity and overweight associated with the nutritional characteristics of school-age children in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (RF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Students together with their parents (n = 35,877), heads of educational organizations (n = 719), and nutrition organizers (operators) were surveyed. RESULTS: The article analyzes selected results of monitoring the nutrition of students, carried out in the 2023 academic year as part of the federal program ‘Strengthening Public Health’ of the national project ‘Demography’. In particular, the results of monitoring are presented separately for the Privolzhsky Federal District (PFD) as a constituent entity and in comparison, with the Russian average indicators. The monitoring permitted to identify problems in the organization of nutrition for schoolchildren, and interviewing schoolchildren and their parents revealed key disturbances in lifestyle and dietary preferences that create certain risks of overweight and obesity in the population of the Privolzhsky Federal District. CONCLUSION: The use of frequency assessment of the character of nutrition permitted to identify the entities of the Privolzhsky Federal District, which, according to the formation of nutrition-dependent pathology in children taking into account territorial characteristics and nutrition problems, prevalence of bad eating habits and dietary stereotypes, are classified as high-risk areas. In order to prevent obesity and overweight, as well as improve school nutrition, it is proposed to intensify work with parents and students to instill healthy lifestyle skills and healthy eating, taking into account age-related characteristics and age-appropriate risk factors for obesity and overweight, including using the media.