Prevalence of overweight and obesity in urban and semi-urban Jordanian children aged 3-6 years.

OBJECTIVES: To show the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the Jordanian urban and semi-urban children; to compare their body mass index (BMI) with the international standards of BMI. METHODS: We measured 1695 healthy children (842 boys and 853 girls) between 3 and 6 years for height, weight and mid upper arm circumference. BMI was calculated and transformed into percentiles. Children were divided into boys and girls. RESULTS: The mean and SD values of BMI observed in our study were 16.69 +/- 4.9 kg/m(2) for boys and 16.82 +/- 4.77 kg/m(2) for girls aged 3-6 years. The prevalence of obesity and overweight among boys was 20.8% and 3.8% respectively and among girls was 19.1% and 7.2% respectively. In total, 48.0% of boys and 38.1% of girls were of healthy weight. CONCLUSIONS: The mean BMI observed in our study's children aged 3-6 years was higher than the expected 50th percentile of the (World Health Organization/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reference values for a similar age range but, it was equivalent to the 75th percentile values. Obesity was more frequent than overweight among boys and girls aged 3-6 years.

A pilot investigation of the hypoalgesic effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation upon low back pain in people with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hypoalgesic effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) upon low back pain (LBP) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). DESIGN: A randomized double-blind placebo controlled clinical pilot study. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Fifteen people with MS were recruited and randomly allocated to one of the following groups under double blind conditions (n = 5 per group): TENS 1 (4 Hz, 200 micros), TENS 2 (110 Hz, 200 micros), placebo TENS. INTERVENTIONS: Treatment was applied for 45 minutes three times a week for six weeks with a four-week follow-up. OUTCOME MEASURES: The following outcome measures were taken at weeks 1, 6, and 10: visual analogue scale (VAS) (for current LBP, right leg pain, left leg pain); Leeds Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Questionnaire; Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire; Short Form-36 (SF-36) Version 1; and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). VAS for current LBP, right and left leg pain were also taken before and after treatment, and once a week during the follow-up period. RESULTS: Analysis showed no statistically significant effects for any of the data. However, both active treatment groups showed a trend of improvement in the majority of the outcome measures. CONCLUSION: Active TENS was more effective than placebo TENS in decreasing VAS scores following each treatment although results were not statistically significant. Further work in this area is warranted and should include a larger number of participants in the form of a randomized controlled clinical trial to determine the efficacy of this modality.