Experts at the research and advisory Institute of Mother and Child said findings from its latest research point to lifestyle, rather than genetics, as the main driver of unhealthy weight gain among young children in Poland.
They presented the results at a scientific conference in Warsaw titled “Children’s Health in Poland, 2021-2025: Knowledge that Changes Practice.”
According to the institute's research, around one-third of 8-year-olds have excess body weight, and about one in eight is classified as obese.
Researchers said the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated negative health trends among children, though the situation stabilized after the pandemic in the 2022–2023 school year. The underlying rates, they added, remain worryingly high.
Biochemical testing painted an even broader picture of risk factors at an early age. The institute reported that almost 46 percent of children tested had elevated total cholesterol, while triglyceride disorders affected about 35 percent of early school-age children.
The institute’s experts argued that genetic predisposition explains only a small share of cases. They said genetics accounts for obesity in only a few percent of instances, and that potentially harmful genetic variants were found in 6.8 percent of children with excess weight in the group studied.
"We adults shape the environment in which our children live," said Prof. Anna Fijałkowska, the institute's deputy director for science and the coordinator of Poland’s National Health Program 2021-2025, a government public health strategy.
She said the data should be treated as a call for systemic change, ranging from tax policy to urban infrastructure, and urged society to take responsibility for what children eat, how they spend time, and how they get to school.
The institute also highlighted gaps between what parents believe and what measurements show.
The institute said caregivers often overestimate children’s physical activity, while data indicate that only about 40 percent meet World Health Organization recommendations of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day.
Sleep was another weak spot. The institute reported that children’s actual sleep time, after subtracting nighttime awakenings, averaged 7 hours and 23 minutes, far below the 9 hours parents reported.
In response, the institute has rolled out a proprietary prevention program called High Five, which it described as combining school-based education with active parental involvement.
The institute said the initiative focuses on five areas: mental well-being, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and digital hygiene, a term used for healthy screen and device habits.
Dr. Anna Dzielska, head of the institute's Department of Child and Adolescent Health, said the program has produced measurable results.
She said schools participating in High Five saw a statistically significant drop in overweight and obesity, while rates rose in control groups where no intervention was conducted.
The institute's director, Dr. Alicja Karney, said its role goes beyond treatment. She said the Institute of Mother and Child is also responsible for diagnosing population-level health trends and implementing prevention efforts that can influence both clinical practice and public health policy in Poland.
(rt/gs)
Source: naukawpolsce.pl