Overweight Children, Obese Children and Adolescents
Conditions
Keywords
Overnutrition, Nutrition Disorders, Body Weight, Overweight, SchoolChildren, peer pressure
Brief summary
Childhood obesity is a major issue for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Interventions modifying people's nutritional behavior and changing their dietary habits can potentially address this problem. This study assessed the effectiveness of the 6-month school-based nutritional educational intervention on fruit and vegetable intake, nutrition knowledge, anthropometric measures, and practice, attitude, and self-efficacy measures.
Detailed description
The problem of childhood obesity is a critical issue for the UAE. Findings of recent studies illustrate that nutritional interventions seeking to modify people's nutritional behavior and change their dietary habits have the potential to address this problem. This article reports the results of the study that was dedicated to the influence of the school-based nutritional educational intervention on fruit and vegetable intake, anthropometric measures, practice, attitude, self-efficacy, and knowledge scores of schoolchildren. The intervention was carried out among 9-13-year-old schoolchildren at public schools from Dubai and Sharjah (n=403). The sample included three groups, including the control group (n=114), Intervention Group 1 (n=148), and Intervention Group 2 (n=141). The control group was exposed to a conventional curriculum on healthy nutrition. Group 1 participated in the intervention involving children, and Group 2 participated in the intervention involving students, peers, and parents.
Interventions
Anthropometric measurements of the students, including weight, height, muscle mass, fat quantity, and waist circumference, were measured. The WHO BMI charts were utilized for classification. Stratified Random selection
OTHERQuestionnaire
The collection of data was performed using the Atlas questionnaire (Al-Hazzaa et al., 2011) and nutrition knowledge and healthy lifestyle behavior questionnaire (Kalender et al., 2011) with additional questions related to self-efficacy and dietary practices adapted from the literature (Becher, 2009; Voss et al., 2017; Kowalski et al., 2004). Stratified Random selection
OTHEREducational sessions
The topics that covered included a healthy eating lifestyle, energy balance, food portion control, healthy snacking, the importance of physical activity and healthy eating, dietary practices, and nutrition-related self-efficacy.
Sponsors
United Arab Emirates University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
1. Educational sessions 2. Anthropometric measurements 3. Questionnaire
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
9 Years to 13 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* WHO BMI-for-age growth charts, Students with BMI from the 85th to the 95th percentile were categorized as overweight, and those who were above the 95th percentile were categorized as obese * Attending Government school. * Within Grades 6-9. * Live in Dubai or Sharjah * Female and male students
Exclusion criteria
* Students with BMI below the 85th percentile for the WHO BMI-for-age growth charts. * Not attending a government school * Living in another emirate (not Dubai or Sharjah)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrition Knowledge and Self-Efficacy | 6 months | \- Change in students' knowledge and self-efficacy scores from baseline values in overweight and obese UAE students aged 9-13 using a validated questionnaire(Arab Teens Lifestyle Questionnaire). The statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, and the IBM, USA computer software (version 29). Likert scales, were expressed as weighted mean ± SD. An independent t-test (parametric test) was used to analyze the effect of 2-level qualitative variables on quantitative variables, and one way ANOVA (parametric test) was used to analyze the effect of \>2-level qualitative variables on quantitative variables in each questionnaire section |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropometric Data | 6 months | Change in body measurements(Weight in kilogram, BMI in kg/m\^2) The statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, and the IBM, USA computer software (version 29).The anthropometric measurements of the control and intervention groups were compared using ANOVA before and after the nutritional education intervention. |
Countries
United Arab Emirates
Outcome results
None listed