Clinical growth charts for pre-school children

Growth standards are indicators for normal growth of the children and growth charts are important tools for their growth monitoring. Children from different populations are different in their growth pattern, it is important to create national standards for the growth of children in each population to develop local growth charts, and since these were not available in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [KSA], the aim of this study was to construct national growth standards and to develop growth charts for 0-5-years Saudi children. A cross-sectional study following World Health Organization [WHO] criteria in determining sample size was adopted, where by 24000 children from 5 regions in the KSA were selected during the period 1992 to 1995 to be the desired sample. One hundred and two Primary Health Care centers [PHCCs] were selected randomly from the 5 regions, from where the sample was drawn, and a special questionnaire was designed. Weight, height and head circumference were measured by standard procedures. The total number of children examined was 23821 [11913 boys and 11908 girls]. Saudi [0-5-years] boys weight and height for age measurements were significantly different from girls. The same difference was found between urban and rural boys and girls and between boys and girls from the different regions of the country [p<0.05]. These national standards derived from this study were used to develop national growth charts that are currently utilized to monitor growth in all Saudi health institutes

Augmenting hospital support of maternal and child health care, Saudi Arabia

This paper describes the Saudi maternal and child health training programme [1988-1997] to augment hospital support of health centres. Maternal and child health trainer/trainee manuals were prepared, then implemented through 4-day trainers workshops and 2week trainee courses. Mid-term evaluation and follow-up demonstrated reasonable coverage and quality of training. Improved integration of care was reflected by a trainers attitude questionnaire and a trainees interview/observation questionnaire. To date, 589 trainers have been trained, three-quarters of them from hospitals. They in turn have trained about 7658 trainees, 93% of target. The programme is ongoing with continuous updating of content

Self reported smoking-quitting attempts and their outcomes in adult Saudi smokers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

To study the factors associated with quitting attempts and their outcome in adult Saudi smokers in Riyadh City, capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Cross-sectional survey. Primary Health Care Centers [PHCCs] in Riyadh city selected by stratified random sampling. The subjects resident in each PHCC catchment area were selected by systematic sampling from their records in the PHCCs. Participants: One thousand, five hundred and thirty-four adults aged 15 years and over were interviewed during January - April 1994. Main outcome measure: Self reported smoking habits, quitting attempts and quitting outcomes. Fifty-four point three percent of all smokers attempted to quit mainly because of health and religious considerations. Only 52.6% of those who attempted to quit [28% of ever smokers] were successful quitters at the time of the study with an average quitting period of more than one year. Quitting attempts were significantly associated with ever married and the less educated smokers. Successful quitting was significantly more in females, unmarried and those with no university education. Age, income, duration and intensity of smoking were not significantly related to quitting attempts and their outcome. The majority of smokers tried quitting on their own with only 18.7% seeking assistance from smoking cessation clinics in the city and males were more inclined to do this than females. More than 48% of smokers who contacted smoking cessation clinics were not satisfied with services offered. Of those who failed to quit, 35% had primary failure [0-6 days quitting period] and 65% stopped for varying quitting periods ranging from 1 to 52 weeks. No significant association was found between both groups concerning the demographic variables studied or the duration or intensity of smoking. Smoking contacts, stress, boredom, foreign travel and withdrawal symptoms were important factors in relapsers. More than half of all smokers attempted to quit, mostly without assistance, but only half of them were successful. The existing smoking cessation clinics require to be evaluated and services need to be improved to attract the majority of smokers who wish to quit. In addition other forms of assistance such as mass media and anonymous quitting smoking activities must be looked at and probably more legislative action taken

prevalence of obesity among Saudi males in the Riyadh region

Attendees of 15 health centers in urban and rural areas in the Riyadh region were screened for obesity during May and June 1994. Systemic selection yielded 1580 Saudi males for analysis. The mean age was 33.6 +/- 13.5 years and body mass index [BM1] was 26.9 +/- 5.7 kg/m 2. Only 36.6% of subjects were their ideal weight [BMI < 25 kg/m [2]], while 34.8% were overweight [BMI 25-29.9 kg/m [2]], 26.9% were moderately obese [BMI 30-40 kg/m [2]] and 1.7% were morbidly obese [BMI > 40 kg/m [2]]. Middle age, lower education and joblessness predicted a higher risk for obesity. Patients living in rural areas had greater BMIs than those living in urban areas [P < 0.01]. Forty percent of overweight participants did not think they were so. The high prevalence of obesity and the lack of awareness among those afflicted emphasizes the need for community-based programs for preventing and reducing obesity, since weight control is effective in ameliorating most of the disorders associated with obesity, such as Type II non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, sleep apnea syndrome and osteoarthritis of the knees. Young parents who are at risk of developing obesity and who play a central role in perpetuating it in their offspring should be the target of obesity-prevention programs