School mental health screening: a model for developing countries.

Using the experience derived from a screening programme of all school-going children in the Al Ain District, United Arab Emirates, this article reports on a cost-effective model that can be used in other developing countries. The need for training child health and school professionals in identifying mental and developmental disorders is discussed.

Factors associated with asthma in school children.

To investigate the factors associated with asthma in school children, a case-control study of 203 asthmatic and 203 non-asthmatic children (103 males and 100 females in each group) aged 6 to 18 years, was organized during the period September 1992 to May 1993 in Al Ain city, United Arab Emirates. Cases comprised known asthmatic children who were regularly receiving medication for asthma and were confirmed as asthmatics by a physician. Cases and controls were matched by age and sex. A questionnaire was used to obtain information about respiratory illnesses (pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, sinusitis and croup); atopy (allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis) and familial allergic diseases (parental asthma and atopy). Information about socioeconomic status and limitations to children as a result of asthma were also obtained. Logistic regression analysis showed that bronchitis, atopy (allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis), croup, parental asthma and parental atopic dermatitis were significant risk factors for childhood asthma after adjusting for other confounding covariates. The model also showed that parental asthma (p < 0.0001) is much more influential than parental atopic dermatitis (p = 0.01) as a risk factor for asthma. Although pneumonia and sinusitis were significant risk factors when analyzed univariately, they were not significant after adjusting for other covariates. Bronchiolitis, smoking and socioeconomic status were beyond the reach of statistical significance as risk factors to asthma in our sample.

Contribution of body fat and fat pattern to blood pressure level in school children.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims are investigating the effect of body fat and fat localization on blood pressure. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: The study was carried out in the school health primary care. SUBJECTS: The case-control study included 220 obese and 220 non-obese children aged 7-18 years from Al Ain city, United Arab Emirates between September 1992 to May 1993 inclusive. Each group consisted of 120 males and 100 females. Two schools were randomly selected from each of the three educational stages: primary, junior and secondary. The inclusion criterion for cases comprised children with body mass index (BMI; Quetelet index), > 90th percentile of age and sex-specific reference data of the French population. Non-obese healthy controls were randomly selected from the same classes from where obese children were identified in order to ascertain that cases and controls were matched by age and sex. MEASUREMENTS: Anthropometric measures (weight, height, waist and hip circumferences), systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. To minimize inter-observer error, blood pressure was measured by one physician. We also collected information about other confounding social variables (family history of obesity and mother's education) and behavioural variables (preferred diet and physical activity). RESULTS: There was significant difference of systolic and diastolic blood pressure means between obese and non-obese children (P < 0.001) in both males and females. Applying the multiple linear regression analysis to fix the confounding effect of age, sex, social and behavioural factors, the fatness index, BMI, was significantly related to systolic (P < 0.0004) and diastolic (P < 0.0001); while waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WHR) was not significant (P = 0.803 in systolic and P = 0.648 in diastolic blood pressure respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a positive relationship with the fatness index BMI, but not with WHR, in both boys and girls. This is an evidence that WHR may not be a reliable indicator of body fat distribution in children.

Factors associated with obesity in school children.

To investigate factors associated with the development of obesity in school children, the authors undertook a case-control study of 220 obese and 220 non-obese children aged 6 to 18 years from Al Ain, United Arab Emirates between September 1992 to May 1993 inclusive. The inclusion criterion for cases comprised children with body mass (Quetelet index) > 90th percentile of age-sex reference data of the French population. Questionnaires were used to obtain information about socioeconomic status (SES), family history of obesity, related diseases and behavioral factors (smoking, physical activity and preferred diet). Anthropometric measures (weight, height, waist and hip circumferences), systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. The waist/hip circumference ratio was used as an index for body fat distribution. The logistic regression analysis showed that family history of obesity, diet, physical activity and mother education were significant factors for development of obesity after adjusting for other confounding covariates. Neither smoking nor SES showed apparent relation to obesity. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed stronger correlation with the fatness index, BMI, than with the fat distribution index, waist/hip ratio.