Anxiety among urban, semi-urban and rural school adolescents in Dhaka, Bangladesh: Investigating prevalence and associated factors.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorder is one of the emerging public health problems in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Likewise, in Bangladesh, a growing number of adolescents are experiencing such symptoms though we have very limited research evidence available. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and the factors associated with this condition among urban, semi-urban, and rural school adolescents in Bangladesh. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used a two-stage cluster sampling procedure. A self-administered questionnaire was conveyed to 2355 adolescents from nine secondary schools of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Of the respondents, 2313 completed the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7). Besides, sociodemographic information, self-reported body image as well as modification of Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ) and WHO Global PA Questionnaire (GPAQ) were used to determine the sociodemographic and lifestyle factors associated with anxiety among adolescents. RESULTS: A total of 20.1% of adolescents were experiencing moderate to severe anxiety; of them, a significantly higher proportion (49.9%) of female adolescents were suffering more than males (40.1%). Furthermore, age, student's grade, father's educational level, number of family members, and residential setting were found to be significantly associated with anxiety among adolescents. In terms of lifestyle factors, irregular physical activity (AOR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.05-1.63), high screen time (AOR: 1.51; 95% CI:1.21-1.88), sleep dissatisfaction (AOR: 3.79; 95% CI: 3.02-4.76), and underweight body image (AOR: 2.37; 95% CI:1.70-3.28) were found to be significantly associated with anxiety among school adolescents of urban, semi-urban, and rural residential settings. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety is prevalent among urban, semi-urban, and rural school adolescents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. To lessen this prevalence of anxiety among Bangladeshi adolescents, evidence-based health programs- healthy school trials-and policies should therefore be taken based on the findings of this study.

Associations between Food Preferences, Food Approach, and Food Avoidance in a Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study Population.

Food preferences are among the strongest predictors of the food choices of adolescents. These are associated with appetitive traits (food approach and avoidance) to some extent. However, no research has been conducted so far analyzing the association between food preferences and appetitive traits of adolescents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between food preferences and appetitive traits in adolescents (aged 15-20 years) within the Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study population. The PLACE-19 Study was carried out in a population-based sample of 2448 secondary school students sampled across the country (random quota sampling). Food preferences (including the preference for vegetables, fruit, meat/fish, dairy, snacks, and starches) of the adolescents were assessed using the validated Food Preference Questionnaire (FPQ) while their appetitive traits (hunger, food responsiveness, emotional overeating, enjoyment of food, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating, food fussiness, slowness in eating) were assessed using the validated Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ). The k-means clustering was performed to identify the homogenous clusters of respondents based on their preferences, and linear regression was performed to determine the relationship between food preferences and appetitive traits with a model adjusted for sex and age. Based on their preferences, three homogenous clusters of respondents were defined: low-preferring respondents (low preference for all food categories), respondents preferring snacking foods (low preference for all food categories, except for fruit and snacks), and high-preferring respondents (high preference for all food categories). The low-preferring respondents showed the lowest values for all appetitive traits (p = 0.0008), as well as the lowest total score (p = 0.0001), except for food fussiness, for which they showed the highest value (p = 0.0008). All preference scores were positively associated with traits such as hunger, food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, and emotional under-eating, while negatively associated with food fussiness (all p < 0.05). The largest amount of variance was observed for preference for dairy (14.6%; R2 = 0.146, p = 0.008) and snacks with respect to enjoyment of food (16.2%; R2 = 0.162, p = 0.008), for vegetable with respect to food fussiness (22%; R2 = 0.220, p = 0.008), and for meat/fish with respect to enjoyment of food (19.9%; R2 = 0.199, p = 0.008) and food fussiness combined (19.1%; R2 = 0.191, p = 0.008). These results support the association of food preferences with both food approach traits and food avoidance traits.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Adolescents' Experience in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cross-Country Study Using a Telephone Survey.

The public health measures instituted by governments to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may cause developmental and educational losses to adolescents. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation strategies on adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are unclear. This study aimed to examine adolescents' knowledge, perceptions, and practices related to COVID-19 and the impacts of the pandemic on the daily lives of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. The survey was conducted in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Nigeria using computer-assisted telephone interviews to enable rapid and remote data collection. Two sites were included in each country, with approximately 300 adolescents per site and 1,795 adolescents in total. Variations across the six sites were noted for the proportions of the adolescents who could correctly identify all key COVID-19 symptoms (4-25%), transmission methods (16-59%), and prevention approaches (33-79%). Most (> 72%) of the adolescents were no longer going to school due to school closures. Many adolescents (23-81%) were not receiving any education during the pandemic. A considerable proportion of the adolescents (44-83%) self-assessed as having less ability to learn during the pandemic; many expected it to be very difficult to catch up on education after the pandemic. Decreases in the consumption of major food groups were common across sites. Urgent actions are needed in sub-Saharan Africa to address the inadequate knowledge of COVID-19 among adolescents and the impacts of the pandemic on adolescent education and nutrition.