Informatics Publishing Limited

Sarhang Qadir Ibrahim ¹, Tariq S. Al-Hadithi ², Kameran Hassan Ismail ³

Affiliations
1 Bsc, Msc in Public Health, College of Medicine, Auvergne University Clermont Ferrand, FR
2 Professor at College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, IQ
3 Assistant Professor of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, IQ

Abstract

Introduction: Overweight and obesity are explained as excessive fat depositions in human body. They have become one of the serious public health problems of the twenty-first century in low income countries. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children is increasing worldwide, and currently 1 child in 10 is overweight or obese. The aim of this study was to assess overweight and obesity and associated factors in high school students in Erbil.

Method: It was a cross-sectional study in which 1,000 students in the age range 16-18 years of Erbil, Iraq in 2016-2017 were randomly selected. Data were gathered by a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 by appropriate statistical tests.

Results: Our results showed that some effective factors such as Computer games, watching TV, and irregular sleep (P-value<0.05) were the known factors/affecting obesity/overweight in this study.

Conclusion: This study revealed that there are many factors involved in emerging over weight, such as overeating, eating snacks just before bedtime, and eating between meals especially between dinner and bed time, having lunch/dinner outside at restaurants and eating rice frequently, taking a nap during the day and watching TV/play video games/computer games.

Keywords

Overweight, Obesity, High School, Students.

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Sarhang Qadir Ibrahim ¹, Tariq S. Al-Hadithi ², Kameran Hassan Ismail ³

Affiliations
1 Bsc, Msc in Public Health, College of Medicine, Auvergne University Clermont Ferrand I, FR
2 Professor at College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Irbil, Kurdistan Region, IQ
3 Assistant Professor of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Irbil, Kurdistan Region, IQ

Abstract

Introduction: The overweight of youth and teens is one of the fundamental issues in the world that seems to be lifestyle and Inactivity of the causes of overweight. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of obesity / overweight in high school students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1,000 students in the age range 16-18 years of Erbil, Iraq in 2016- 2017 were randomly selected. Data were collected via questionnaire. Data were examined using SPSS 22 for windows and analyzed by appropriate statistical tests. Results: surveys demonstrated that 30% of youth aged 16 to 18 were overweight or obese. About 30 percent met physical activity guidelines; however, physical activity was not associated with overweight or obesity in this sample. Computer games, watching TV (0.007) and irregular sleep (P-value=0.019) were among other known factors/ affecting obesity/overweight in this study. Conclusions: According to findings, we concluded that a trend towardbeing overweight/ obese in youth and there are many factors involved, such as irregular sleep and lack of mobility in overweight.

Keywords

Overweight, Obesity, High School Students.

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