[Internet addiction among graduates of general secondary schools in Cracow and its correlation with body mass index and other health problems]. / Stopien uzaleznienia od Internetu maturzystów krakowskich liceów ogólnoksztalcacych a wskaznik masy ciala i inne problemy zdrowotne.

UNLABELLED: Studies find increasing trend among children, adolescents and young adults to spend excessive amounts of time surfing in the Internet. Another serious problem is the increasing proportion of young people who are overweight and obese. There are only few papers trying to correlate these two trends. AIM: The aims of the study were as follows: identification the extent of Internet addiction among students of Krakow's secondary schools and its correlation with BMI and other health problems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study among 200 pupils of randomly selected Krakow's high schools was conducted. Internet addiction was evaluated by using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) by Kimberly Young. Each participant filled in an authors' questionnaire about his/her basic social and medical information. For each participant BMI was calculated. RESULTS: It was found that 7% of study group was addicted to the Internet (above 49 points in the IAT questionnaire). Internet addicts had higher BMI. The study revealed also several statistically significant relationships between the level of Internet addiction and the time spent online, BMI, back pain, headache. CONCLUSIONS: There is a modest percentage of people addicted to the Internet in the population of high school graduates, but these people often complain of back pain and headaches. BMI is higher among addicted youths. The time spent by high school graduates on online activity is far beyond the time devoted to physical activity.

[Family medicine as a medical specialty and an academic discipline in the medical students' assessment]. / Medycyna rodzinna jako specjalizacja lekarska i dyscyplina akademicka w ocenie studentów medycyny.

BACKGROUND: Family medicine has been recognized as the key element of a good health care system. Despite the significance of the family physician's role the number of medical students choosing to train in family medicine has been declining in recent years. AIM: The aim of this study was to describe opinions about family medicine and family medicine teaching among medical students. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross sectional study with an anonymous questionnaire was carried out. The study population was all sixth-year students in Faculty Medicine of Jagiellonian University Medical College, who completed family medicine course in winter semester of academic year 2012/2013. RESULTS: 111 students filled in the questionnaire. The response rate was 84.1%. Less than one third of respondents (30.6%) considered family medicine as a future career choice. Almost all students recognized responsibility of the family doctor for the health of community. 52% of respondents agreed that the family doctor is competent to provide most of the health care an individual may require. Experience from family medicine course was according to the students the most important factor influencing their opinions. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students appreciate the social role of family doctors. Family medicine teachers should not only pass on knowledge, but they also should encourage medical students to family medicine as a future career choice.