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The obesity epidemic is one of the most serious public health problems across many countries. In Poland more than half of the adult population has excessive body weight, while approx. 20% are obese. 15-20% of children and adolescents suffer from excessive body weight, while 4% of them are obese. Moreover, the number of overweight or obese children is growing alarmingly. Obesity can lead to many serious health consequences. Though the most serious disorders are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes type 2 and some cancers. In the nearest future diseases related to obesity will probably become the main cause of death in many countries. This may lead to shorter average life expectancy. The treatment costs of obesity and related diseases are constantly increasing. The most important preventive measure aiming at curbing the effects of obesity involves lifestyle change, including a change in diet and physical activity. The best results should be obtained by multifaceted programmes, which cover activities aiming at the improvement of both diet and physical activity. Due to the spread of the obesity epidemic, the countries of WHO European Region signed the European Charter on Counteracting Obesity, in which they declared their commitment to combat obesity. Activities aiming at combating obesity in Poland should be closely connected with the implementation of the National Programme for the Prevention of Overweight, Obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases through Diet and Improved Physical Activity, which will be implemented in 2007-2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to assess the quantity and frequency of meat consumption, especially of red and processed meat, in Poland. The amount of meat consumed was assessed using data from household budget surveys undertaken in 2000, 2010, and 2020. The frequency of consumption was assessed using Food Propensity Questionnaire data from 1831 adults in 2019-2020. Poles consumed 1.35 kg of unprocessed red meat and 1.96 kg of total processed meat per person per month in 2020. The consumption of red meat was lower than in the two previous decades; the consumption of processed meat fluctuated. Pork was the most commonly consumed red meat: 40% of adults consumed pork 2-3 times a week. Beef and other unprocessed red meat were most often consumed less than once a month (29.1%). Processed meat was often consumed: 37.8% of adults ate cold cuts, and 34.9% ate sausages and bacon 2-3 times a week. The consumption of red and processed meat in Poland was high and frequent. In particular, the consumption of processed meat exceeded the recommendations and might increase the risk of chronic diseases. It is necessary to implement activities aimed at reducing the consumption of red and processed meat in Poland.

Detailed characteristics of the weight status of the population is necessary for the effective prevention of health disorders, e.g., through personalized nutrition education. This study aimed to characterize weight status and identify sociodemographic factors associated with overweight/obesity in a representative sample of adult inhabitants of Poland. This cross-sectional study was carried out from July 2019 to February 2020 on a representative nationwide sample of individuals aged 18+ in Poland. The study consisted of two parts: questionnaire survey and anthropometric measurements. The body mass index was calculated. Data on 1831 adults (50.3% females; mean age 51.7 ± 19.9 years) were included in this analysis. The prevalence of overweight was 42.2% (52.4% among males and 32.0% among females). Of the 1831 participants, 16.4% were obese (16.5% of males and 16.2% of females). Out of 11 factors analyzed in this study, only 5 were significantly associated with overweight/obesity. Males, older participants, occupationally active individuals, those living in rural areas and individuals with at least one chronic disease had greater odds of overweight/obesity. This study demonstrated a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults in Poland. This is the most up-to-date representative study on nutritional status carried out before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The elderly are at greater risk of underweight and the associated risk of protein and energy malnutrition. On the other hand, the lower energy requirement with an often too high intake from the diet leads to the development of overweight and obesity., Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity, including abdominal obesity in Polish elderly., Material and Methods: The study included 300 men and 304 women aged 65 and over from all over the country. The nutritional status was assessed on the basis of anthropometric measurements: body height and weight as well as waist and hip circumferences. Based on BMI (Body Mass Index), the prevalence of underweight (<20.0), overweight (25.0-29.9) and obesity (≥30.0) was assessed. WHR (Waist-to-Hip Ratio) was used to assess abdominal obesity (≥1.0 in men and ≥0.85 in women). Waist circumference was also analysed with regard to increased risk of metabolic complications (≥94 cm in men and ≥80 cm in women)., Results: Underweight was found in 1.3% of men and 4.3% of women. 55.3% of men and 40.1% of women were overweight, 20.3% and 21.7% were obese, respectively. In the case of people with excess body weight, abdominal obesity was observed in 50% of men and 70.1% of women. Waist circumference indicating an increased risk of metabolic complications was found in 44.1% of men and 67.5% of women., Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Polish elderly was high, especially in men. Overweight and obese people often had abdominal obesity. This type of obesity was more common in women. Elderly people, especially women, often have an increased risk of metabolic complications due to high fat accumulation in the abdomen. It was even found in elderly who were not overweight nor obese. Some elderly, mostly women, were underweight which increased the risk of protein and energy malnutrition., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© Copyright by the National Institute of Public Health NIH - National Research Institute.)

Introduction: In recent years, there has been a great interest in food supplements. However the use of food supplements can be associated with the risk of excessive intake of vitamins or minerals which may have adverse health effects. Objective: Assessment of food supplement consumption in the adult population in Poland. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 1,831 adults (913 men, 918 women) from which 178 (59 men, 119 women) food supplement users were selected. The consumption of food supplements were assessed by the 24-h recall repeated two times and the food propensity questionnaire (FPQ). Results: 10% of the subjects consumed food supplements during the 12 months prior to the study (6% of men, 13% of women) and among users 68% (79% of men and 88% of women) in the day before the survey. Most respondents (44%) used vitamin supplements during the year. More men than women (27 vs. 11%, p = 0.0059) used mineral supplements while more women than men used vitamin and mineral supplements (31 vs. 8%, p = 0.0008). The most frequently supplemented vitamins were: B 6 (58%), C (53%), and D (47%) and minerals were: magnesium (43%), zinc (34%), and iron (29%). More women than men supplemented vitamin B6 (71 vs. 40%, p = 0.0012), vitamin D (54 vs. 36%, p = 0.0061) and magnesium (49 vs. 34%, p = 0.0075). Intake of riboflavin, pantothenic acid and manganese were higher in the group of men (respectively: 3.3 mg ± 6.0 vs. 1.4 mg ± 0.3, p = 0.0329; 9.4 mg ± 5.6 vs. 6.1 mg ± 2.0, p = 0.0357; 2.2 mg ± 0.9 vs. 1.3 mg ± 0.6, p = 0.0080) but intake of vitamin D was higher in the group of women (15.7 μg ± 20.4 vs. 33.1 μg ± 26.4, p = 0.0085). In many cases, the intake of vitamins and minerals from food supplements covered the Dietary Reference Values for these nutrients in 100%. In some persons the intake of biotin, vitamin B 12 , C, B 6 , riboflavin, niacin was higher than the reference values several dozen times. The intake of vitamins and minerals exceed UL in a few cases relating to vitamin B 6 and magnesium. Conclusions: A minority of adults in Poland used food supplements. However, those products were a significant source of vitamins and minerals. Intake of vitamins and minerals from food supplements should be monitored., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Stoś, Woźniak, Rychlik, Ziółkowska, Głowala and Ołtarzewski.)

Background: About 7 million people in Poland receive pensions. The amount of benefits paid to pensioners is reflected in the income at their households and expenses, including food expenses., Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the dietary patterns of Polish seniors in the retirees` households on the basis of an analysis of food consumption and energy and nutrient intake., Material and Method: Food consumption evaluation was based on household budget survey conducted by Statistics Poland in 2019 throughout the whole country. Energy and nutrient intake were calculated using the conversion factors., Results: The consumption of unprocessed red meat in retirees' households was 1.83 kg/person/month, meat products - 2.90 kg and kitchen salt - 0.24 kg. 6.52 kg of vegetables and 5.99 kg of fruit were consumed per person per month. The mean energy intake in members of these households was 2387 kcal/day. The proportion of energy from fat was high - 36.6%. 14.2% of energy was derived from protein and 49.6% from digestible carbohydrates. The share of animal fat (55.0 g) was higher than vegetable fat (43.7 g). It was associated with a high percentage of energy from saturated fatty acids - 13.4%. The content of polyunsaturated fatty acids was less than half of the saturated fatty acids. Calcium and vitamin D intake was low (658 mg and 3.8 μg respectively)., Conclusions: Red meat, processed meat and salt consumption by seniors was too high in relation to the nutritional recommendations. Vegetables and fruit were consumed in amounts that are recommended. Seniors diet was improperly balanced, e.g. due to the high percentage of energy from fat, including saturated fatty acids. However, the intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids was low. Calcium and vitamin D intake was lower than Reference Intakes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest, (© Copyright by the National Institute of Public Health NIH - National Research Institute.)

The study examined the relationships between long-term trends in food consumption, alcohol intake, tobacco smoking, and colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence. Data on CRC incidence rates were derived from the National Cancer Registry, on food consumption from the national food balance sheets; data on alcohol and tobacco smoking reflected official statistics of the Central Statistical Office. It was shown that CRC incidence rates were increasing between 1960 and 1995, which could have been affected by adverse dietary patterns (growing consumption of edible fats, especially animal fats, sugar, red meat, and declining fibre and folate intake), high alcohol consumption, and frequent tobacco smoking noted until the end of the 1980s. Since 1990, the dietary pattern changed favourably (decrease in consumption of red meat, animal fats, and sugar, higher vitamin D intake, increase in vegetables and fruit quantities consumed, and decline in tobacco smoking). These changes could contribute to the stabilisation of CRC incidence among women seen after 1996 and a reduction in the rate of increase among men.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between pancreatic cancer incidence and selected dietary factors, alcohol consumption, and tobacco smoking in Poland in 1960-2008. Data on pancreatic cancer morbidity were derived from the National Cancer Registry and on food consumption from the national food balance sheets. In 1960-1989 correlations were found between pancreatic cancer incidence rates and energy (0.60 for males and 0.57 for females), cholesterol (0.87 and 0.80), fibre (-0.84 and -0.89) and folate (-0.45 and -0.49) intake, the consumption of total fats (0.94 and 0.91), animal fats (0,90 and 0,82), sugar (0.88 and 0.87), cereals (-0.93 and -0.91), and alcohol (0.86 and 0.82). In 1990-2008 morbidity correlated with the consumption of red meat (0.67 and 0.48), poultry (-0.88 and -0.57), and fruit (-0.62 and -0.50). Correlation with tobacco smoking was observed in the whole studied period (0.55 and 0.44). Increased incidence of pancreatic cancer in 1960-1995 was probably related to adverse dietary patterns up to 1989, especially high consumption of fats, sugar, and alcohol. Further positive changes in the diet such as lowering red meat consumption and increasing fruit consumption could influence incidence reduction in recent years. Also changes in tobacco smoking could affect the morbidity.

Aim: To examine the relationship between the trends in food consumption and gastric cancer morbidity in Poland., Methods: The study was based on gastric cancer incidence rates and consumption of vegetables, fruit, vitamin C and salt in Poland between 1960 and 2006. Food consumption data were derived from the national food balance sheets or household budget surveys. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to estimate the relationship between the variables., Results: A negative correlation was found between vegetables (-0.70 both for men and women; P<0.0001), fruit (-0.65 and -0.66; P<0.0001) and vitamin C (-0.75 and -0.74; P<0.0001) consumption and stomach cancer incidence rates. The same applied to the availability of refrigerators in the household (-0.77 and -0.80; P<0.0001). A decline in these rates could also be linked to reduction in salt intake., Conclusion: The decline of gastric cancer incidence probably resulted from increased consumption of vegetables, fruit and vitamin C and a decrease in salt consumption.

Aim: To examine if dietary and socio-economic factors contribute to Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) re-infection., Methods: The population of patients consisted of subjects in whom H pylori infection had been successfully treated in the past. Patients were divided into two groups: I-examined group (111 persons with H pylori re-infection) and II-control group (175 persons who had not been re-infected). The respondents were interviewed retrospectively on their dietary habits and socio-economic factors., Results: A statistically significant lower frequency of fermented dairy products (P < 0.0001), vegetables (P = 0.02), and fruit (P = 0.008) consumption was noted among patients with H pylori re-infection as compared to those who had not been re-infected., Conclusion: High dietary intake of probiotic bacteria, mainly Lactobacillus, and antioxidants, mainly vitamin C (contained in fruit and vegetables), might decrease the risk of H pylori re-infection.

In this paper the authors tried to evaluate and compare the dietary habits of elderly people living in rural and urban areas. The data were collected from 591 men and women aged 61-96 years, using 24-h dietary recall. Energy and selected nutrients content in daily diet was calculated basing on these data. The energy and macronutrients content in daily diet of rural and urban residents was similar. However, the intake of some vitamins and minerals, especially beta-carotene and ascorbic acid, in men and women and potassium and magnesium in women, was lower in rural than in urban population. Daily energy intake in men was higher, and in women adequate to the recommended values. The per cent of energy from fat was high, while that from carbohydrates was relatively low in the daily diet of men and women. The study subjects had high intake of sodium, phosphorus, vitamin A, and insufficient intake of calcium, zinc, copper, riboflavin, vitamin B6, and women had also low intake of iron, potassium, thiamin and niacin in comparison with Polish dietary allowances. Improper dietary habits significantly increase the risk of development of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, and osteoporosis among the studied subjects.

The assessment of organization and quality of nutrition was done in 184 urban and 156 rural schools in 1998 to obtain information about changes in that aspect during last few years. Data was collected using questionnaire method. The analysis of obtained results showed that the per-cent of schools organizing one form of nutrition in towns (95.1%) was higher than in villages (64.1%), but the per-cent of pupils consuming at least one meal served in school was lower in towns (22.2%) than in villages (31.3%). In comparison with situation in the beginning of the 90th nutrition was organized by significantly higher amount of schools but improvement of situation relevant to amount of pupils consuming school meals was not so significant. Urban schools the most frequently served full dinners, in rural schools it was often sticky bun or sandwich. Significant per-cent of rural schools did not serve any meal due to bad local conditions and financial problems. From the reason that the per-cent of pupils consuming school meals is too small, it is necessary to undertake actions leading to improvement of the situation in that aspect. These activities should be relevant to increased access to school meals, especially in rural area, decreased cost and quality improvement of these meals.

Promethazine has been shown to possess definite immunosuppressive activity in clinical and experimental organ transplantation. However, there are few data concerning the mechanism of its influence on immune reactions. In the present studies promethazine was shown to inhibit natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity in vitro. Combined analysis of 51Cr-release and single-cell assays revealed that this agent affects some processes involved in delivering the 'lethal hit' but not the binding of target cells nor the recycling capacity of effector cells. The possible mechanism of promethazine action at the cellular level is discussed.