[A STUDY INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS OF INTERNET ADDICTION]. / ISTRAZIVANJE CIMBENIKA NASTANKA OVISNOSTI O INTERNETU.

The aim of the study was to explore the characteristics of Internet use among elementary school eighth-graders in the Bjelo- var-Bilogora County, to evaluate gender and sociodemographic differences, and to examine predictors for Internet addiction. The study included 437 (female 51%) eighth-graders, mean age 13.8 ± 0.5 years. An anonymous questionnaire was used to measure the participants' Internet use, the functions for which they used Internet, their parents' attitude towards the child's Internet use, and their signs of Internet addiction. Logistic regression was conducted to evaluate predictors for Internet addiction. The majority of children (71.5%) reported using Internet every day. Considering important risk factors of Internet addiction development, we found that 32% of children almost always stayed on-line longer than intended, 13% of boys and 4% of girls almost always neglected chores to spend more time on-line and 51.7% of children thought their life would be boring and uninteresting without the Internet. There was no significant difference between urban and rural students. In terms of the function for which they used the Internet, they were mostly engaged in on-line community/chat websites (70%), to listen to music and watch movies (81 %), and boys in gaming websites. Most of the students (43.4%) spent 1-2 hours daily on-line, 26.2% of students spent 3-4 hours on-line, and 9% spent more than 5 hours daily on-line. In conclusion, more public health preventive measures should be conducted to raise public awareness and concern about the negative effect of Internet use and Internet addiction, especially in the young population.

Family history and parental recognition of overweight in Croatian children.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of parents on the weight status of their offspring, particularly in relation to a family history of obesity and obesity-related illnesses. A cross-sectional study of 1,068 child-parent dyads sampled at school entry health examination was conducted (median age of the child 6.75 years, range 5.7-8.3 years, 50.3 % males). The parental perception of the weight status of their child was compared to the body mass index (BMI, kilogram per square meter), calculated from measured weight and height. Weight status (underweight, normal, overweight, and obese) was defined using the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BMI for age reference charts. Backward multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine possible predictors of parental misclassification of overweight/obese children. Among this cohort of children, 12 % were overweight, 10.2 % obese, and 8.1 % were underweight. Only 24.8 % of obese children and 2.2 % of overweight children were considered "overweight" by their parents. A positive family history was not significantly associated with parental recognition of overweight. Parental misperception of overweight/obese children as being normal was related to the child BMI z-score (odds ratio (OR) 0.036; 0.012-0.111) and diabetes in family history (OR 3.187; 1.207-8.413). CONCLUSION: The majority of parents did not perceive their overweight/obese children as overweight. As having an obese family member or one who has suffered from an obesity-related illness does not increase the parental ability to recognize overweight in their children, strategies to increase public awareness about the importance of one's family medical history are needed.