Study of compliance to rational nutrition in various professional groups living in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan

Objective – to study the adherence to the principles of rational nutrition by representatives of various professional groups living in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan.

Material and methods. The study was conducted using a questionnaire-survey method among 543 mental workers of the Samara region and 158 students of the Avicenna Tajik State Medical University (Republic of Tajikistan), followed by statistical processing of the data.

Results. Violations of the principles of rational nutrition are common in various professional groups of the working-age population, including among students of a medical university. According to anthropometric studies, 61% of the surveyed workers were overweight and obese; in the group of students this indicator was only 8%, 29% of students were underweight. Violations of nutrition regimen were found among 31.1% of employees and 38% of students. Factor analysis of the actual nutrition of workers revealed 5 types of nutrition models characterized by a stereotype of eating behavior due to the consumption of certain foods and beverage. The regression analysis confirmed the relationship between the risk of obesity and adherence to types 2, 4 and 5 of nutritional models; an individual's adherence to nutritional model type 3 reduced this risk. In the group of the surveyed, the deterioration of the diet quality was revealed due to the excessive consumption of high-calorie foods, "fast food", sweet carbonated drinks, as well as insufficient consumption of vegetables, fruits, fish. The correlation analysis established the relationship between the body mass index and complaints presented by the survey participants concerning the cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine and musculoskeletal systems. The study identified the most common alimentary-dependent pathologies among students such as gastritis, chronic pancreatitis, and chronic cholecystitis.

Conclusion. The revealed violations of the principles of rational nutrition, the nutritional status, form the risks of development of the gastrointestinal tract diseases, metabolic disorders and cardiovascular pathology. The results obtained indicate the need of preventive measures in relation to the adherence to the principles of rational nutrition, creating awareness in various professional groups of the population, including students of medical universities in different states.