ABSTRACT
Obesity has become one of the main public health problems worldwide. Childhood obesity rate is growing very fast in both developed and developing countries. This paper aimed to explore the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children aged 10-13 years in Bahrain, and to find out the difference in this prevalence when using two international standards. A multistage stratified sampling procedure was used to select 2146 students [1068 males, 1078 females] from public schools in Bahrain. Weight and height were measured and Body Mass Index for age and sex was calculated to determine the obesity levels. Both International Obesity Task Force [IOTF] and World Health Organization [WHO] references were used to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity. The findings revealed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity ranged from 15.7% to 28.9% among males and from 21.1% to 30.7% among females. The WHO reference standard provided higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than IOTF reference. The study confirmed that obesity is a problem of concern in Bahraini school children and calls for intervention programme to combat obesity in schools. However, the standard used to determine obesity levels should be carefully selected and interpreted
ABSTRACT
Adequate sleep has been considered important for the adolescent's health and well being. On the other hand, self-imposed sleep curtailment is now recognized as a potentially important and novel risk factor for obesity. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of short sleep duration and its association with obesity among Saudi adolescents. This is a school-based cross-sectional study with self-reported sleep questionnaires. It was conducted during the years 2009/2010 in three cities in Saudi Arabia; Al-Khobar, Jeddah, and Riyadh. Participants were 2868 secondary-school males [1379] and females [1389] aged 15 to 19 years, randomly selected using a multistage stratified sampling technique. Measurements included weight, height, waist circumference, BMI, and sleeping duration. Logistic regression analysis while adjusted for age, gender, and location was used to examine the associations between sleep duration and obesity measures. The mean [SD] of sleep duration was 7.2 [1.6] hours/day with no significant differences between males and females. About 31% of the participants obtain less than 7 hours of sleep per day, while approximately 50% of the sample gets less than 8 hours of daily sleep. Two-way ANCOVA results while controlling for the effect of age revealed a significant gender by school-type interaction [P<0.001]. In addition, adequate sleep duration increased the odds of having normal weight [adjusted odds ratios = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.08-1.50, P = 0.003]. The present study observed a high prevalence of short sleep duration among Saudi adolescents 15- to 19-year olds and that short sleep duration was significantly associated with increased risk of overweight and obesity. Future interventions should investigate whether adopting a healthy lifestyle by adolescents with short sleep duration would improve their sleeping habits or not
ABSTRACT
To investigate the association between obesity and the risk of elevated blood pressure [BP] in adolescents in Dubai, United Arab Emirates [UAE]. Representative sample of 661 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years were selected by means of a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The mean body mass index [BMI] of males was higher than that of females at all ages except at 13 years of age, where the females had higher mean BMI values [24.1kg/m2] compared to males [21.9 kg/m2]. Males had higher levels of systolic blood pressure [SBP] [117.1mm Hg-126.8 mm Hg] than females [109.2mmHg-117.1mmHg]. The prevalence of high SBP increased as the weight increased, as 50% of males with high SBP were obese, compared with 62.5% among females. Male and female adolescents with elevated SBP were 5 times [95% CI 2.3, 9.7] and 16 times [95% CI 3.5, 17.3] respectively, more likely to be obese compared to those with normal SBP. Similarly, those with elevated diastolic blood pressure [DBP] were two times [95% CI 1.1, 4.4] and four times [95% CI 1.6, 8.5] more likely to be obese compared to those with DBP in the normal range. The high prevalence of obesity among adolescents in Dubai and its association with high BP calls for urgent action to prevent and control obesity in this age group