Al-Thani M, Al-Thani A, Alyafei S, Al-Chetachi W, Khalifa SE, Ahmed A, Ahmad A, Vinodson B, Akram H. The prevalence and characteristics of overweight and obesity among students in Qatar.
Public Health 2018;
160:143-149. [PMID:
29704956 DOI:
10.1016/j.puhe.2018.03.020]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2017] [Revised: 03/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
To estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity using World Health Organisation (WHO) cut-offs for the body mass index (BMI) among students of the general population living in Qatar in the period 2015-2016.
STUDY DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.
METHODS
The study includes 164,963 students aged 5-19 years. The body weight and height were measured to calculate the BMI. The WHO standard cut-offs were used to categorise the BMI into severe thinness (BMI z-score <-3), thinness (BMI z-score ≥-3 to <-2), normal (BMI z-score ≥-2 to <1), overweight (BMI z-score ≥+1 to <+2) and obese (BMI z-score >+2).
RESULTS
Overweight and obesity prevalence was 44.8% and 40.4% among males and females and 45.6% and 40.9% among Qatari and non-Qatari students, respectively. Odds of obesity and overweight status were significantly higher among 10-14 and 15-19 age groups than 5-9 years age group (P < 0.001). By sex, males had 1.48 times higher odds of having obesity than females (P < 0.001), and Qatari nationals had 1.4 times higher odds of obesity than non-Qataris (P < 0.001). Although non-Qatari males also had higher odds of being overweight than females (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, P = 0.0006), the opposite was seen among Qatari students (OR = 0.95, P = 0.01).
CONCLUSION
The result of this survey provides evidence of a high prevalence of overweight and obese students living in Qatar. Therefore, preventive strategies are essential in this population to lower the incidence of being overweight and obesity.
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