growth pattern of school children in Saudi Arabia

A cross-sectional study of schoolchildren in Saudi Arabia was carried out to determine their health status. The sample was selected using a multistage stratified sampling technique and anthropometric measurements were taken. The growth charts of height for age, and weight by age were constructed and smoothed by the spline regression polynomial technique. The study showed that Saudi boys and girls have similar growth patterns to their American counterparts. However, they were retarded by less than one standard deviation compared with the National Council of Health Statistics standards. Schoolboys and girls with normal weight and height for age constitute about 58% and 53% respectively of the total sample. Overweight and obesity were more frequent in girls than in boys

Noise-induced hearing loss on workers exposed to noise in a cement factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This study was conducted on the workers exposed to continuous noise in two departments, the electric power station and the milling department, of a cement factory to assess the pattern and extent of noise-induced hearing loss among them. The weighted sound pressure levels in dB and the average noise dose were measured in the study area. The workers were examined otologically and audiometric evaluations were performed on the exposed workers and a group of controls. Hearing impairment was found in 55% of the workers exposed to noise in the electric power station and ln 52.9% of those in the milling department of the cement factory as there was a statistically significant difference in the mean hearing threshold level between the exposed workers and their controls in all tested frequencies for both ears. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean hearing threshold between the two exposed groups. The most common type of hearing impairment was slight bilateral hearing impairment according to the WHO grading. Workers in the electric power station complained mainly from hearing loss whereas the workers in the milling department complained equally from hearing loss and tinnitus. The paper discusses the pattern of this hearing impairment and compares it with previous studies. The results of this study reveal the importance of the audiometric screening of workers at risk of noise-induced hearing loss for early detection of hearing impairment, and the importance of preventive measures

retrospective study of factors affecting breast feeding practice in rural community of Saudi Arabia

This study was conducted during the academic year 1987-1988 in the rural areas of Tihama in Saudi Arabia to assess the average duration of breast feeding and the effect of some factor; The mean duration of breast feeding was 11.2 +/- SD 7.5 months and the results of regression analysis showed all the three maternal variables, age, parity and education to have statistically significant independent effects on the duration of breast feeding. The results showed that 98.3% of mothers support the idea of breast feeding, and 78.9% of them were illiterate. These findings are discussed in relation to previous work