Home Medicine Association of overweight, obesity and insufficient sleep duration and related lifestyle factors among school children and adolescents
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Association of overweight, obesity and insufficient sleep duration and related lifestyle factors among school children and adolescents

  • Aisha Abdalla Almulla ORCID logo EMAIL logo and Taoufik Zoubeidi
Published/Copyright: July 26, 2021
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 34 Issue 2

Abstract

Objectives

To assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity and Insufficient Sleep Duration (ISD) and to investigate their relationship with related lifestyle factors among school-aged students. Obesity in childhood and adolescence is a serious health concern as it may have long term risk for overweight and obesity in adulthood.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study of 1,611 students aged between 10 and 18 years from Al Ain city, United Arab Emirates. Data were collected using a multistage stratified random sampling method using a validated questionnaire and the level of significance was set at p<0.05.

Results

The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 42.4%. ISD was 36.6% among students. Higher BMI was significantly related to being a male and inactive (95% CI=0.03–0.23), daily coffee consumption (95% CI=0.03–0.1), older age (95% CI=0.01–0.02), less average sleep duration (95% CI=−0.02 to −0.003) and spending more time on TV/videogames (95% CI=0.01–0.07). The likelihood of ISD was significantly lower among students who consumed breakfast daily (OR=0.58, 95% CI=0.41–0.83), spent less time on smart devices (OR=0.63, 95% CI=0.47–0.84), and never consumed energy drinks or soft drinks (OR=2.64, 95% CI=1.13–6.16, OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.24–3.29, respectively).

Conclusions

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-aged students is high. ISD and related lifestyle factors are significantly associated with overweight and obesity. Study findings emphasize the need to address and implement successful strategies for a healthy lifestyle starting from early childhood to combat the increasing rates of overweight and obesity in adulthood.

Keywords: adolescents; children; lifestyle; overweight/obesity; sleep duration
Corresponding author: Aisha Abdalla Almulla, Community Nutrition Department, Tawam Hospital, Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), P.O. Box: 15258, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all students and their parents who agreed to be part of this study and the Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi for their support. Appreciation is also extended to Ms. Nada Al Adeeb from the Community Nutrition Department for her contribution in reviewing sections of the manuscript.

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contributions: AAA collected, designed, and analyzed study data, and wrote the manuscript. TZ performed the statistical analyses and was a major contributor in writing the results of the manuscript. Both authors accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  5. Ethical approval: The research related to human use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies, and in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration, and has been approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Board of Tawam Human Research Ethics Committee (T-HREC) (Reference no. AA/AJ/676).

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Received: 2021-03-22
Accepted: 2021-07-02
Published Online: 2021-07-26

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2021-0041
Keywords for this article
adolescents; children; lifestyle; overweight/obesity; sleep duration

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Reviews
  3. Polycystic ovary syndrome and infertility: an update
  4. Menstrual distress in females of reproductive age: a literature review
  5. Research Article
  6. Correlates of food intake and mealtime behaviors among Kuwaiti adolescents
  7. Original Articles
  8. Association of overweight, obesity and insufficient sleep duration and related lifestyle factors among school children and adolescents
  9. Encouraging physical fitness in Brazilian adolescents with excess weight: can they outperform their eutrophic peers in some activities?
  10. Spiritual self-care in adolescents: a qualitative study
  11. Explaining the dimensions of social support for breakfast and healthy snacks in students: a qualitative study
  12. Experiences of involvement processes during participation in cancer service user initiatives from an adolescent and young adult perspective
  13. “I think meningitis is a virus, while septicaemia might be caused by bacteria.” A study of vaccination views, disease awareness and MenACWY and MMR uptake among freshers at a London university
  14. A descriptive study on dietary pattern and biophysical profile among Saudi female dental students
  15. Prevalence and associated factors of skipping breakfast among university students from 28 countries: a cross-sectional study
  16. Exploring health-risk behaviors related to road safety and car drifting among adolescents in Saudi Arabia: the co-occurrence of multiple risk behaviors
  17. A pilot study of attachment relationships, psychological problems and negative automatic thoughts among college students in Pakistan
  18. Prevalence and correlates of muscle-enhancing behaviors among adolescents and young adults in the United States
  19. Short Communication
  20. Tobacco use and associated health risk behaviours among university students in 27 countries
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