Childhood obesity prevalence among primary schoolboys at Al-Iskan sector, Holy Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Journal Title: International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health - Year 2014, Vol 3, Issue 2
Abstract
Background: Obesity is one of the most common disorders encountered in clinical practice and has major public health implications. The high prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi school children is a cause of concern, as obesity is associated with several complications that increase both morbidity and mortality. Aims & Objective: To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children between 6 - 12 years as well as to identify the associated unhealthy d ietary habits for overweight and obesity. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted including representative sample of primary schoolboys in Al - Iskan sector in Makkah Almukarramah. The sample size was distributed among the three primary school in Al - Iskan sector and determined as a percentage proportionally related to the total number of the student in each school. Self - administered questionnaire (with family help) including socio - demographic characteristic and detailed dietary history, w as used for data collection. Trained staff collected anthropometric measurements of weight and height. Results: The study included 258 male primary school children. Their age ranged between 6 and 12 years. The prevalence of overweight was12.4% and that of obesity was 20.2%. Among studied socio - demographic variables associated with overweight and obesity, birth weight above normal was significantly associated with them (p<0.05) while among studied dietary factors, eating fried potatoe s and chocolate at a rat e more than normal was significantly associated with overweight and obesity among male school children. The habit of eating fast foods frequently (at least three times/week) was accompanied with higher prevalence of obesity (30.4%) compared t o only 8% amon g school children who did not eat fast foods. This association between BMI and habit of eating fast foods was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the current study provide alarming evidence - based data on the considerable prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity among primary school children in Al - Iskan sector, Holly Makkah, Saudi Arabia. It highlights the significant association between some unhealthy dietary habits and increase prevalence of childhood obesity such a s excessive eating of fried potatoes, chocolate and frequent fast meals
Authors and Affiliations
Jassir Abdullah
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP153491
- DOI 10.5455/ijmsph.2013. 0 6 11 2013 1
- Views 82
- Downloads 0
Can isotonic handgrip exercise cause postexercise hypotension in healthy adolescents?
Background: A single bout of physical exercises involving large muscle mass such as brisk walking has been reported to produce postexercise hypotension for up to 12 h, which helps in managing high blood pressure (BP)...
CMV retinitis in an HIV patient with clinical and immunological failure on HAART
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis is a complication of patients infected with human immunode fi ciency virus (HIV) in advance stage when CD4 count is less than 50 cells/cumm. Before the introduction of highly active ant...
Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy and its implications
Background: Thyroid disorders are one of the most common endocrine disorders in pregnancy. Thyroid disorders are known to be associated with abnormal maternal and fetal outcomes and are often overlooked in pregnant w...
Synchronous endometrioid carcinoma of bilateral ovaries and uterus: A case report
Synchronous primary cancer of female genital tract is relatively uncommon; about 0.5–1.7% of women with gynecological malignancies have synchronous primary cancers of the female genital tract. Synchronous primary endomet...
A rare case of transverse vaginal septum
Transverse vaginal septum is a rare condition that results from incomplete fusion between the vaginal components of the mullerian ducts and the urogenital sinus. A patient presented with the complaint of aparunia. A pedi...