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OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE ADOLESCENTS IN GREECE. ADOLESCENTS IN GREECE. A STUDY PROTOCOL OF THE A STUDY PROTOCOL OF THE FEEDING-EXERCISE TRIAL FEEDING-EXERCISE TRIAL IN ADOLESCENTS (FETA)IN ADOLESCENTS (FETA)

Anna Patsopoulou, George Rachiotis, Antonis Katsioulis, Paschalis Adam Molyvdas, Christos Hadjichristodoulou

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Introduction-Description Obesity:• is a common but often

underestimated condition of clinical and public health importance all over the world

• is an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality1.

Adolescence is a period of major physical and cognitive change and it has been considered as a "critical period" for the development of adult obesity.

Adolescents with established overweight or obesity have a moderate to substantial risk of remaining so in adulthood2.

In Greece several studies have been conducted on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children.

On the contrary, only few studies investigate the prevalence of obesity among adolescents3-6.The FETA programme has the

following aims: a) To investigate the prevalence of

obesity and the risk factors among adolescents 12-18 years old and their parents.

b) To compare and evaluate the efficacy of two different clinical interventions among overweight and obese adolescents.

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FETA: The study consisted of two parts Part 1. Descriptive study

816 adolescents aged 12 to18 in public schools of Larissa took part.

Measures: height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and cardiac rate, parental authority and motivation, and last, information on dietary and exercise habits of the adolescents and their parents.

Used 3 questionnaires:1. The modified version of Parental Authority Questionnaire

(PAQ)7,8 2. The modified version of Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate

Questionnaire-2 (PIMCQ-2)9

3. The modified version of the Family Eating and Activity Habits Questionnaire (FEAHQ)10-12

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Part 2.Intervention Program (Clinical Trial) Two different interventions groups and one control group were

employed: • the 1st group participated in an exercise program, • the 2nd group participated in a combined dietary and exercise

program, and Each group comprised of 50 individuals, aged 12 to 18, of both

sexes. Measures: height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, systolic and

diastolic blood pressure, and cardiac rate, speed trial (10x5m, Eurofit) and last, information on dietary and exercise habits of the adolescents and their parents.

The modified version of the Family Eating and Activity Habits Questionnaire (FEAHQ)10-12 was used.

duration of the program: six months

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CONCLUSIONS It is expected that the results of the study will provide useful

information about the effectiveness of preventive interventions among overweight and obese adolescents.

The environment of children has drastically changed in all over the world during the last decades as reflected in unhealthy dietary habits and a sedentary lifestyle. Our goal was to identify how parental feeding and exercise practices influence the life style of their children and either the mother or the father influenced their more.

The proposed FETA programme could be used by health professionals inside schools to identify adolescent at high risk for obesity from early life. This simple and inexpensive programme could be useful in assisting obesity in the adolescents preventing initiatives.

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2013; 28. doi: 10.1111/j.2047-6310.2013.00144.x. [Epub ahead of print]11. Golan M, Weizman A. Reliability and validity of the Family Eating and Activity Habits. European Journal of Clinical

Nutrition.1998; 52 (10): 771-777. 12. Golan M, Weizman A, Apter A, Fainaru M. Parents as the exclusive agents of change in the treatment of childhood obesity.

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