The Prevalence of Obesity among School Students and its Relation to Dietary and Physical Habits
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2020.3424Keywords:
Body mass index, Obesity, Dietary, Physical, SchoolAbstract
BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that unhealthy food practices and lack of exercise are the main cause of the progressive increase in the obesity prevalence.
AIM: We aim to assess the prevalence of obesity among school students and its relationship to dietary and physical habits.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study from 18 intermediate and high schools located in Taif, Saudi Arabia, between April 2014 and June 2015. We excluded any student with a psychological disease or chronic diseases. We calculated the body mass index (BMI) of students by measuring their height and weight. Dietary, physical, sleep habits, and socioeconomic status were assessed.
RESULTS: A total of 2943 students participated with a mean age of 15.4 ± 1.7 years. The majority of these were boys and attending government schools with a mean BMI 22.7 ± 8.6 kg/m2. Overall, 13.6% were overweight and 12.8% were obese. One-third of students report a sedentary lifestyle. Compared to girls, boys were more likely to have lower BMI (p < 0.001), be overweight (p < 0.001), exercise for >300 min/week (p < 0.001), own electronic devices other than smartphone (p < 0.001), use the electronic devices <3 h/day (p = 0.007), eat their meals with their family (p < 0.001), eat fruits and vegetables daily (p < 0.05), exercise for >300 min/week (p < 0.001), and walk to and from school at least once weekly (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: A quarter of the students were either overweight or obese. Girls were more likely to be obese with less favorable socioeconomic, media consumption, dietary, and physical profiles.
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Copyright (c) 2020 Tariq A. Aljuaid, Faisal M. Albaqami, Hassan D. Alasmari, Bassam A. Alzaidi, Abdullah D. Al-shehri, Khalid Mohammed Alshehri, Khaled Alswat (Author)
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