Who of us doesn't know this: the sweet reward, the comfort candy. A quick bite to eat, a quick way to calm down. Reaching for sweets, fast food, soft drinks, and convenience foods has long since become a daily habit for many. No wonder: such foods are readily available. In our hectic everyday lives, however, we often don't allow ourselves enough time to prepare a varied diet and to eat regular meals together. This has consequences, also for children and young people with congenital heart defects.

Too fat, too sweet, and too much of it. More and more children in Germany are suffering from the consequences of an unbalanced diet. This unhealthy eating style can be particularly dangerous for children and adolescents with congenital heart defects. We at the Competence Network with E-BAHn have therefore launched a first broad study on their nutritional behavior, funded by the Fördergemeinschaft Deutsche Kinderherzzentren e. V.

Ominous Trend

According to the current KiGGS study, two million children and adolescents in Germany are overweight. That is a proportion of about 15 percent. In 800,000 children and adolescents, the excess weight is so pronounced that we speak of obesity. The amount of fat in the body is then so high that it becomes permanently dangerous to health and promotes the development of serious chronic diseases. In addition, there are social disadvantages and economic costs associated with this, both for the individual and for society. In Germany, we spend around 63 billion euros a year on treating the consequences of obesity, on sick pay and on early retirement pensions alone.

Decisive for the Disease progression and Quality of Life in CHD

One of the most important measures to prevent the risk of disease is a balanced and varied diet, along with sufficient physical activity from early age on. This is because an insufficient supply of vitamins, minerals and trace elements impairs bone and muscle development of children and adolescents as well as their mental and social-emotional development and their body's defense against pathogens.

This is a decisive factor for the course of disease in congenital heart defects. The duration of recovery after a medical intervention, the occurrence of secondary diseases, the need for further interventions, the long-term quality of life – all this is influenced by the physical development of the children. A balanced diet is therefore crucial to prevent secondary diseases and further health problems in children and adolescents with congenital heart defects (CHD) and to ensure the highest possible quality of life.

Preventing Diseases of Affluence

In addition to good body weight and length gain in infancy and childhood, the prevention of acquired diseases of affluence such as obesity and diabetes mellitus is therefore increasingly becoming the focus of interest in congenital heart disease research. We have already conducted research on the physical activity of children and adolescents with congenital heart defects in Germany as part of our S-BAHn study.

As part of our E-BAHn study, we now want to find out how well children and adolescents with congenital heart defects eat. In this way, we are laying the foundation for further research to improve treatment, health care and quality of life in patients with congenital heart defects.

Nationwide Patient Survey: Are You Participating?

We will soon be launching our E-BAHn survey among participants in the National Registry for Congenital Heart Defects. More than 25,000 children and adolescents with congenital heart defects between the ages of six and under 18 are registered in the world's largest database on a voluntary basis. In the first step, we survey parents and guardians, as well as adolescents and children registered with their consent, online about their eating behavior.

We then compare the survey results based on data from the National Register with data from participants of the same age in the representative KiGGS study conducted by the Robert Koch Institute. We will of course keep you informed about the start of the survey and the results on this website and on the Facebook page of the National Registry for Congenital Heart Defects.