Assessment of the adaptive capacity of children and adolescents in environmentally challenging conditions

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A number of recent studies have demonstrated an increase in the number of children and adolescents with deviations in physical development attributing this increase to the effects of environmental pollution. The ability of children and adolescents to adapt to their environment can serve as an indicator of their physical development in unfavorable environmental conditions. AIM: To assess the physical development and adaptive capacity of children and adolescents living in regions with varying degrees of anthropogenic impact on the environment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An analysis of the environmental situation in the Ulyanovsk region was carried out based on the author’s own research of atmospheric air, drinking water and soil samples collected from residential areas in 2009–2023. The study focused on identifying pollutants in the natural environment and calculating a comprehensive pollution indicator for each environmental component. In addition, a survey of schoolchildren in the Ulyanovsk region was conducted. Height, weight, chest circumference, body mass index, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. The adaptation capacity (AC) of the study participants was calculated using the Baevsky formula. RESULTS: Schoolchildren of both genders, who lived in regions with low level of anthropogenic impact on the environment, had higher values for morphological and functional characteristics than schoolchildren in regions with high degree of anthropogenic impact. Median AC values for boys and girls in the latter group were higher than those in the former, suggesting heightened adaptation mechanisms in environmentally disadvantaged areas. The differences in AC among girls closely mirrored those observed in boys, albeit across fewer age-groups, potentially indicating greater adaptive reserves in the latter group. CONCLUSION: Our findings can be used for sanitary and hygienic monitoring, prevention of childhood morbidity and the development of environmental strategies to reduce the adverse effects of environmental factors on public health.