The objective of this study was to estimate the level of obesity and its relationship to age, educational level, occupation and physical activity in adult Bulgarian men. The sample included 1010 men, aged 18-50 years old, from town of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The study was made in period 2004-2008. The body height, weight and waist circumference were measured. Overweight and obesity were defined according to the international cut-off points of body mass index (BMI). The abdominal obesity was assess by the categories of waist-height ratio (WHTR).The age, educational level, occupation and physical activity of each person were investigated through inquiry. For statistical analysis the SPSS package was used. The results shown that 42.1% of investigated men were overweight and 19.4% of them were with obesity.With irregular WHTR and central obesity were 66.1% of all cases. The percent of men with general and central obesity increases with age. In the case of both general and central obesity, th...

BACKGROUNDTo evaluate and compare the demographic and socioeconomic features and life styles of normal weight, overweight and obese subjects living in the city center of Bursa and investigate these features in the obese group by subgrouping according to body mass index (BMI). METHODSThe study included randomly assigned 2011 subjects older than 18 years of age. A questionnaire was filled in for each participant about age, gender, occupation, educational and marital status, family history of obesity and personal history of co-morbidities, smoking, alcohol, exercise and dietary habits. RESULTSOverweight ratio in men (53.5% vs 40.5%) and obese ratio in women (22.7% vs 39.3%) were higher. Female gender, educational level, family history for obesity, diastolic blood pressure and smoking were the main predictors of high BMI. In subgroup analysis, there was no difference between dietary and physical habits and co-morbid disease prevalences.CONCLUSIONSSince being overweight is a pre-obese, p...

Introduction: Over the last decades obesity became a serious problem all over the world both in developed and in developing countries. Obesity is a multifactoral origin disease resulting from the interaction between social, behavioral, psychological, as well as genetic, cellular, molecular and metabolic factors. Nowadays obesity is related to increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, colon cancer and even mortality. Aim: The present study aims to investigate the contribution of nutritional habits, physical activity and certain socio-demographic factors to the manifestation of obesity in Bulgarian sample. Study subjects and methods: The study involved 182 adults of Bulgarian origin. Anthropometric characterisation included height, weight, waist and hip circumferences, body mass index (BMI) and waist/hip ratio. Obesity-associated clinical indices were determined: levels of plasma glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and blood pressure (systolic/diastolic). Respondents filled in questionnaires including their diet habits, physical activity, educational and social status. Results: Statistically significant difference in all clinical parameters between the two groups-normal weight and obese subjects was established. In agreement with previously known data it was found that regular consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables was related to lower BMI, while juces rich in sugar had a negative impact. In contrast to most published research reports, the consumption of salty foods was not prevalent in overweight people but rather in those with normal weight. Similar monitoring result has been reported only about Greece, close in culture, diet and physical activity to the population of Bulgaria. In accordance to other studies, the level of physical activity had significantly positive impact on BMI. A positive correlation between BMI and age, hypertension, and marital status, and a negative correlation between BMI and employment was found. Conclusions: Some features specific to the Balkan area were established for the Bulgarian sample. Data obtained in this study may serve in creating adequate recommendations for a healthy lifestyle to optimize national strategies for obesity prevention.

The aims of the current research were to determine the body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat, maximum oxygen consumption and level of habitual physical activities, and the differences in the student population of both sexes regarding data on health, exercise and nutrition. The sample of participants was composed of 160 students (94 male and 66 female), age 22±1 years. The overall sample of participants is divided into two subsamples, 95 of them were students of physical education that were informed through the study program about health, exercise and nutrition, while the second subsample consisted of 65 students of other study programs that did not receive the afore mentioned information. Body height, body weight and percentage of body fat were established, the body mass index was calculated, maximum oxygen consumption was estimated (by a direct method) and the (weekly) level of habitual physical activities. The data were processed by procedures of descriptive statistics, ce...