ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The primary aim was to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the participants and its relationship to obesity awareness. METHODS: A cross-sectional study that included intermediate and high schools students was conducted between April 2014 and June 2015. Anthropometric measurements were obtained by the researchers and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. We used the obesity risk knowledge (ORK-10) scale to assess obesity awareness. Participants who answered ≥ 5 out of 10 questions correctly were considered to be aware. RESULT: A total of 528 students were enrolled (mean age, 15.58 years). The mean BMI was 22.37 kg/m2, and 27.6% were either overweight or obese. The mean ORK-10 score was 3.15 and 25.4% were considered to be aware. Compared to those who were non-aware, participants in the aware group were more likely to be older (P < 0.001), male (P < 0.001), attend high school (P < 0.001), eat dinner with their families (P = 0.021), eat fruit at least daily (P = 0.027), and consider obesity to be a disease (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Only 25.4% of students who participated were considered to be aware about obesity. Those who were aware were more likely to be older male high school students.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To examine the relation between body mass index (BMI) and the academic performance of students from Taif city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) using the grade point average (GPA). Method: A cross-sectional study that includes students from intermediate and high schools located in Taif city, KSA between April 2014 and June 2015. Height and weight were measured and BMI calculated. Related risk factors including dietary habits, activity, parent's education, sleeping pattern, and smoking were recorded. Result: A total of 14 schools included 424 students. 24.5% were either overweight or obese. The mean age was 15.44 year, 74.8% of the students were male, 53.8% were high school students, and 83.7% attended public schools. The mean overall GPA was 82.44% and the mean GPA for science subjects was 70.91%. No statically significant difference in the BMI was found between those who achieved greater than 90% of the overall grade compared with those who achieved less than 90%. Post hoc 1-way-analysis of variance showed that obese students were performing worse in physics than normal weight peers (p=0.049). Students who achieved greater than 90% overall grade are more likely to attend private school (p less than 0.05), live with their parents (p=0.013), having educated parents (p=0.037), getting optimal sleep (p less than 0.05), and they rarely eat their food outside their home (p less than 0.05). Conclusion: There was no correlation between the BMI and school performance, except in physics results where obese students perform worse than normal-weight students.
