IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/gjhsjl/v9y2017i12p80.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Prevalence of Obesity in School Children and Its Relation to Lifestyle Behaviors in Al-Ahsa District of Saudi Arabia

Author

Listed:
  • Ahmed A. Albin Saleh
  • Aqeel S. Alhaiz
  • Ataur Rahman Khan
  • Abdulkareem J Al-Quwaidhi
  • Majdi Aljasim
  • Adeeb Almubarak
  • Ahmed Alqurayn
  • Mohammed Alsumaeil
  • Akeel AlYateem

Abstract

OBJECTIVES- To estimate obesity prevalence among children and adolescents in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia for the year 2016 and to determine the related preventable risk factors.METHODS- This study was a cross-sectional study (using stratified random sampling representing different geographical areas of Al-Ahsa) through a self-administered questionnaire. It included 240 male students aged (7–15) years old from public primary and intermediate schools in Al-Ahsa governorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were taken for all the study participants. Body mass index (BMI) and its percentile was determined using Saudi won growth charts of the corresponding age and sex.RESULTS- The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was 29.6% (10.8% overweight, 3.8% obese, and 15% extremely obese). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was significantly associated with early childhood obesity, parental obesity, mother's employment, family income, number of snacks and fast food consumption, physical inactivity, and time spent in watching television. Other factors (namely, eating during emotional stress, family gathering on meals, and regular eating times) were having independently significant association.CONCLUSION- There is an urgent need to spread awareness about obesity, and the prevention programs that involving schools and families are the key strategy for controlling the current epidemic of obesity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed A. Albin Saleh & Aqeel S. Alhaiz & Ataur Rahman Khan & Abdulkareem J Al-Quwaidhi & Majdi Aljasim & Adeeb Almubarak & Ahmed Alqurayn & Mohammed Alsumaeil & Akeel AlYateem, 2017. "Prevalence of Obesity in School Children and Its Relation to Lifestyle Behaviors in Al-Ahsa District of Saudi Arabia," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(12), pages 1-80, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:gjhsjl:v:9:y:2017:i:12:p:80
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/download/70907/38939
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/view/70907
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Datar, A. & Sturm, R., 2004. "Physical education in elementary school and body mass index: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(9), pages 1501-1506.
    2. Telford, R.D. & Cunningham, R.B. & Fitzgerald, R. & Olive, L.S. & Prosser, L. & Jiang, X. & Telford, R.M., 2012. "Physical education, obesity, and academic achievement: A 2-year longitudinal investigation of australian elementary school children," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(2), pages 368-374.
    3. Alviola, Pedro A. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Thomsen, Michael R. & Danforth, Diana & Smartt, James, 2014. "The effect of fast-food restaurants on childhood obesity: A school level analysis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 110-119.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara Wawrzyniak & Marcin Korbecki & Ireneusz Cichy & Agnieszka Kruszwicka & Tomasz Przybyla & Michal Klichowski & Andrzej Rokita, 2022. "Everyone Can Implement Eduball in Physical Education to Develop Cognitive and Motor Skills in Primary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Asirvatham, Jebaraj & Thomsen, Michael R. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Goudie, Anthony, 2019. "Do fast food restaurants surrounding schools affect childhood obesity?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 124-133.
    3. Bütikofer, Aline & Abrahamsson, Sara & Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2023. "Swallow This: Childhood and Adolescent Exposure to Fast Food Restaurants, BMI, and Cognitive Ability," CEPR Discussion Papers 18213, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Black, Nicole & Johnston, David W. & Propper, Carol & Shields, Michael A., 2019. "The effect of school sports facilities on physical activity, health and socioeconomic status in adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 120-128.
    5. Nancy Kong & Weina Zhou, 2021. "The curse of modernization? Western fast food and Chinese children's weight," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(10), pages 2345-2366, September.
    6. Xun Li & Rigoberto A. Lopez, 2016. "Food environment and weight outcomes: a stochastic frontier approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(47), pages 4526-4537, October.
    7. Dolton, Peter J. & Tafesse, Wiktoria, 2022. "Childhood obesity, is fast food exposure a factor?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    8. Grace Lordan & Debayan Pakrashi, 2015. "Do All Activities “Weigh” Equally? How Different Physical Activities Differ as Predictors of Weight," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(11), pages 2069-2086, November.
    9. Fortin, Bernard & Yazbeck, Myra, 2015. "Peer effects, fast food consumption and adolescent weight gain," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 125-138.
    10. Cawley, John & Frisvold, David & Meyerhoefer, Chad, 2013. "The impact of physical education on obesity among elementary school children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 743-755.
    11. Anderson, Patricia M. & Butcher, Kristin F. & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2019. "Understanding recent trends in childhood obesity in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 16-25.
    12. John Cawley & Chad Meyerhoefer & David Newhouse, 2007. "The impact of state physical education requirements on youth physical activity and overweight," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(12), pages 1287-1301, December.
    13. Hamrick, Karen & Okrent, Abigail, 2014. "Timing is Everything: The Role of Time and the Business Cycle in Fast-Food Purchasing Behavior in the United States," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170156, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. von Hippel, Paul T. & Lynch, Jamie L., 2014. "Why are educated adults slim—Causation or selection?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 131-139.
    15. Chang, Chaeyoung & Jung, Haeil, 2017. "The role of formal schooling on weight in young children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1-12.
    16. Steven Bednar & Kathryn Rouse, 2020. "The effect of physical education on children's body weight and human capital: New evidence from the ECLS‐K:2011," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 393-405, April.
    17. Yunting Zhang & Xiaochen Ma & Jin Zhao & Hong Shen & Fan Jiang, 2019. "The Effect of Strengthened Physical Education on Academic Achievements in High School Students: A Quasi-Experiment in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-11, November.
    18. Brennan Davis & Cornelia Pechmann, 2023. "When Students Patronize Fast-Food Restaurants near School: The Effects of Identification with the Student Community, Social Activity Spaces and Social Liability Interventions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-24, March.
    19. Han, Jeehee & Schwartz, Amy Ellen & Elbel, Brian, 2020. "Does proximity to fast food cause childhood obesity? Evidence from public housing," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    20. Peter J. Huckfeldt & Darius N. Lakdawalla & Tomas J. Philipson, 2012. "Economics of Obesity," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:gjhsjl:v:9:y:2017:i:12:p:80. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.