educational programme on dengue fever prevention and control for females in Jeddah high schools

A mass communication campaign was conducted at 20 randomly selected female high schools and 2 school supervision centres in Jeddah to improve knowledge, attitudes and practices of students, teachers and supervisors about dengue fever. A total of 5977 pre- and post-intervention questionnaires were completed and the intervention was conducted using lectures and audiovisual aids. A marked improvement in all areas of knowledge, attitudes and practices was observed after the programme in all groups. Students obtained the highest improvement in mean knowledge scores after the programme compared to the other 2 groups. There is a need to expand such programmes to all Jeddah schools

Overweight and obesity among Saudi Arabian children and adolescents between 1994 and 2000

Overweight and obesity trends were investigated for schoolchildren and adolescents in Jeddah using data from 1994 and 2000. Individuals aged 10-20 years were selected using multistage stratified random sampling and direct measurements were made of body weight and height. Percentiles were calculated for body mass index [BMI], body weight and height for specific age and sex strata. For both sexes, BMI increased between 1994 and 2000 at the 50th percentile but higher still at the 85th and 95th percentiles. The increase in body weight and BMI were marked for all age groups; however boys showed the largest increase aged 10-16 years, whereas girls showed the lowest at 14-16 years. Public health intervention is crucial to prevent or reduce overweight and obesity among youth