Gulich Maria, Fedorova Dina, Petrenko Olena, Vepsäläinen Henna, Erkkola Maijaliisa
State Institution "O.M. Marzіeiev Institute for Public Health" of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Matern Child Nutr. 2025 Jan;21(1):e13729. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13729. Epub 2024 Sep 5.
The war in Ukraine has exposed children to extremely high levels of acute and chronic stressors, which can impact their eating behaviour (EB). We aimed to determine the prevalence of war-induced, stress-related disruptions in EB of Ukrainian children. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among parents of 5- to 17-year-old children, who had experienced the war in Ukraine in February-May 2023. Guardians reported their child's various war exposure changes in EBs using a modified version of the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. We assessed associations between total and medium-term EB changes and age, sex, and war exposure using bivariate correlations and χ2 tests. Logistic regression models were fitted to explore the associations between socio-demographic factors, war exposure and frequency of EB changes. Of the 4854 children, 63% had changes in EBs during the war. The most common EB changes included food cravings (38%), food fussiness (37%), and aversion to certain foods (29%). Of the reported EB changes, 40% were medium-term, lasting over a month, and related to altered attitudes towards food. Food insecurity (adjusted OR 2.35, 95% CI: 1.76-3.14), and displacement (internally 2.01, 1.19-3.42) emerged as the most influential determinants of medium-term EB changes. The findings underscore a significant and robust association between war-related exposures and an increased risk of frequent EB changes. As healthy EBs are learned during childhood and have been shown to track into adulthood, the identified disruptions in EB may have medium-term consequences for the physical and mental health of Ukrainian children.
乌克兰战争使儿童面临极高程度的急性和慢性压力源，这可能会影响他们的饮食行为（EB）。我们旨在确定战争引发的、与压力相关的乌克兰儿童饮食行为紊乱的患病率。我们对2023年2月至5月经历过乌克兰战争的5至17岁儿童的父母进行了一项横断面在线调查。监护人使用儿童饮食行为问卷的修改版报告了他们孩子在饮食行为方面因战争暴露而发生的各种变化。我们使用双变量相关性和χ2检验评估了饮食行为的总体和中期变化与年龄、性别以及战争暴露之间的关联。采用逻辑回归模型来探讨社会人口因素、战争暴露与饮食行为变化频率之间的关联。在4854名儿童中，63%在战争期间饮食行为发生了变化。最常见的饮食行为变化包括食物渴望（38%）、挑食（37%）和对某些食物的厌恶（29%）。在报告的饮食行为变化中，40%是中期的，持续一个多月，并且与对食物态度的改变有关。粮食不安全（调整优势比2.35，95%置信区间：1.76 - 3.14）和流离失所（国内流离失所2.01，1.19 - 3.42）成为中期饮食行为变化最具影响力的决定因素。研究结果强调了与战争相关的暴露与饮食行为频繁变化风险增加之间存在显著且密切的关联。由于健康的饮食行为是在儿童时期习得的，并且已被证明会持续到成年期，因此所确定的饮食行为紊乱可能会对乌克兰儿童的身心健康产生中期影响。
