The students then went to bed, a third gained weight – Society

Since the introduction of the state of emergency, large numbers of students have had difficulty falling asleep, children go to bed later, but also get up later. They spend more time on phones and computers than under normal circumstances, which is a consequence of the change in teaching and learning format.

Photo: Beta / Dragan Gojić

However, the students retained the health habits they had before the introduction of the state of emergency, some of the conclusions of the research carried out by the Serbian Association of Teachers of Physical Education and Sports, in cooperation with the Institute for the Advancement of The education.

The investigation of the health habits of the students in the conditions of the state of emergency was carried out from April 26 to 29, and the online survey was completed by 4,097 students from fifth and seventh grade of primary and first grade of secondary school of all administrative regions and districts.

The results show that around 70 percent of the students rate their own health as excellent and are very satisfied with their lives. Of health problems, students complain less of dizziness (10-17 percent), while more than 60 percent of students face nervousness and irritability, i.e., bad mood, at least once a month, except in the Kosovo-Metohija environment, where that percentage is much lower. Stomach pain and difficulty falling asleep follow: 40 percent of students have had these difficulties at least once during an emergency.

All the other students think that they remained at the same body weight during the state of emergency, a third thought that they gained weight and around 18 percent that they lost weight. Most students follow a diet in the Belgrade region, every quarter.

When it comes to eating habits, more than 80 percent of surveyed students eat breakfast every day during the work week. Almost a third of children in Šumadija, western Serbia and Belgrade consume sweets at least once a day, while 22 percent of children in Kosovo and Metohija have the same habits, that is, 25 percent of students living in Vojvodina.

At least once a day, seven to 10 percent of schoolchildren drink sweetened soft drinks. Between 39 and 49 percent of students eat vegetables every day, and schoolchildren in southern and eastern Serbia have the best habits. Children eat fruits more often than vegetables.

In most regions, more than 70 percent of the surveyed students said they brush their teeth more than once a day, mostly students from Belgrade (78 percent).

About 38 percent of students are physically active every day for at least 60 minutes, 35 percent spend four or more hours a week doing intense physical activity to breathe and sweat. Boys are more physically active than girls, and physical activity decreases with age. The most active are fifth grade students, and the least active are girls attending first grade of high school.

A significant number of our students (37 to 55 percent depending on the region) play up to two hours a day, regardless of whether it is Monday through Friday or on weekends. It is interesting that more television was watched in excess (not counting the classes), various entertaining videos, YouTube … during working days than on weekends.

Up to two thirds of the students in Belgrade and Vojvodina spend more than two hours using electronic devices for homework, sending emails, tweeting, Facebook, chatting, surfing the Internet … The percentage is lower in Sumadija and western Serbia (56 per cent) and in Kosovo and Metohija (45)

It turned out that between one and five percent of students go to bed Monday through Friday until 9 pm, but at midnight or later 57 percent of students in southern and eastern Serbia, 52 percent from the Belgrade region and about a third in Vojvodina and the Sumadija region and western Serbia. At the same time, about 23 percent of students in Kosovo-Metohija schools lie so late. On weekends, the situation is even more unfavorable: the percentage of respondents who go to bed at midnight or after midnight reaches 70 percent.

On the other hand, in the state of emergency, getting up on weekdays moved to 8 hours or more, and the percentage of students getting up at that time varies from 46 percent in Kosovo and Metohija and 57 percent in Vojvodina, to more 61 percent in other regions. On weekends, after 10 o’clock, more than half of the students get up, and almost every fifth at or after noon.

Differences between boys and girls.

Significant gender and age differences were observed in the study. Girls are more likely to decrease self-evaluations of their own health, life satisfaction, are less physically active, are more prone to certain health problems, but a higher percentage maintain oral hygiene, play less and eat breakfast more regularly than children. The older they are, the less satisfied students are with their own health and life, the less physically active they are, the higher the percentage of those who complain about certain health problems, the more they use electronic devices and the less they eat breakfast regularly. Interestingly, Kosovo and Metohija students expressed the highest satisfaction with their health and life, complain the least about health problems and are the most physically active.

What has changed?

To better understand whether students’ health habits have changed due to the state of emergency, the researchers compared the results with the 2018 school-age children’s health-related research conducted by the Institute of Public Health “Milan Jovanovic Batut “in the same sample. It showed that the prevalence of certain health problems decreased slightly, and it was claimed that children eat breakfast more regularly, eat less candy, and drink soda. The level of physical activity in girls of all ages has increased. At the same time, it was noted that more students are having difficulty falling asleep. Also, more students use electronic devices to do their homework.

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