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Haroun, D., ElSaleh, O., & Wood, L. (2017). Dietary and Activity Habits in Adolescents Living in the United Arab Emirates: A Cross-Sectional Study. Arab Journal of Nutrition and Exercise (AJNE), 1(2), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.18502/ajne.v1i2.1226
https://doi.org/10.18502/ajne.v1i2.1226
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Dalia Haroun
Dalia Haroun
Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
-
Ola ElSaleh
No author data available.
-
Lesley Wood
No author data available.
Published Date
- Nov 12, 2017
Dietary and Activity Habits in Adolescents Living in the United Arab Emirates: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Background: The Global School Health Survey 2010 reported that 40% of pupils aged 12-15 years are overweight or obese; double what was reported in 2005. Following such concerns the government introduced mandatory school health education sessions to students, and produced strict guidelines on school food and drink provision (September 2011). The aim of this survey was to obtain information about adolescents’ dietary and activity habits, and their association with the increased prevalence of obesity.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 1,022 students (539 boys; 483 girls) aged 12-16 years, from 17 government schools in Dubai, UAE. Dietary practices and physical activity was collected using a short self-completed questionnaire.
Results: Non-Emirati pupils, especially the girls appear to eat more healthily than their Emirati counterparts. Overall, 16% of students reported never eating breakfast, 31% reported drinking sugar sweetened beverages everyday 18% said they never drank milk and 15% never ate fruits. 67% reported buying food from school every day; Emiratis spending more than non-Emiratis. 37% of pupils reported exercising or playing sport daily, whereas 60% reported they daily watch more than 2 hours of TV.
Conclusion: Despite the recent changes in school policies, pupils are still failing to eat a healthy diet and engage in physical activity. There needs to be further interventions promoting changes in lifestyle amongst adolescents, and enhancing provision of healthy food in schools to be more appealing to students.
References
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[2] A. S. Alberga, R. J. Sigal, G. Goldfield, D. Prud’ homme, and G. P. Kenny, “Overweight and obese teenagers: why is adolescence a critical period?” Pediatric Obesity, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 261–273, 2012.
[3] A. R. Al-Haifi, M. A. Al-Fayez, B. I. Al-Athari et al., “Relative contribution of physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and dietary habits to the prevalence of obesity among Kuwaiti adolescents,” Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 6–13,2013.
[4] H. M. Al-Hazzaa, N. A. Abahussain, H. I. Al-Sobayel, D. M. Qahwaji, and A. O. Musaiger, “Physical activity, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits among Saudi adolescents relative to age, gender and region,” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 8, article 140, 2011.
[5] H. Al Sabbah, C. Vereecken, P. Kolsteren, Z. Abdeen, and L. Maes, “Food habits and physical activity patterns among Palestinian adolescents: Findings from the national study of Palestinian schoolchildren (HBSC-WBG2004),” Public Health Nutrition, vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 739–746, 2007.
[6] V. C. Strasburger and M. J. Hogan, “Children, adolescents, and the media,” Pediatrics, vol. 132, no. 5, pp. 958–961, 2013.
[7] P. Amuna and F. B. Zotor, “Epidemiological and nutrition transition in developing countries: impact on human health and development,” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 82–90, 2008.
[8] H. N. Bashour, “Survey of dietary habits of in-school adolescents in Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic,” Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 853– 862, 2004.
[9] A. A. Bin Zaal, A. O. Musaiger, and R. D’Souza, “Dietary habits associated with obesity among adolescents in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,” Nutrición Hospitalaria, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 437–444, 2009.
[10] K. Boutelle, D. Neumark-Sztainer, M. Story, and M. Resnick, “Weight control behaviors among obese, overweight, and nonoverweight adolescents,” Journal of Pediatric Psychology, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 531–540, 2002.
[11] C. M. Brown, A. G. Dulloo, and J.-P. Montani, “Sugary drinks in the pathogenesis of obesity and cardiovascular diseases,” International Journal of Obesity, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. S28–S34, 2008.
[12] Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Epi-info www.cdc.gov/epiinfo/ access: 2012.07.15).
[13] K. S. Collison, M. Z. Zaidi, S. N. Subhani, K. Al-Rubeaan, M. Shoukri, and F. A. AlMohanna, “Sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage consumption correlates with BMI, waist circumference, and poor dietary choices in school children,” BMC Public Health, vol. 10, article 234, 2010.
[14] S. Croezen, T. L. S. Visscher, N. C. W. ter Bogt, M. L. Veling, and A. Haveman-Nies, “Skipping breakfast, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity as risk factors for overweight and obesity in adolescents: Results of the E-MOVO project,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 405–412, 2009.
[15] S. R. Daniels, M. S. Jacobson, B. W. McCrindle, R. H. Eckel, and B. M. Sanner, “American heart association childhood obesity: Research summit,” Circulation, vol. 119, no. 15, pp. 2114–2123, 2009.
[16] W. H. Dietz, “Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease,” Pediatrics, vol. 101, no. 3, pp. 518–525, 1998.
[17] M. M. Ferreira and M. C. Torgal, “Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption among Adolescents,” Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 255–261, 2010.
[18] N. Gharib and P. Rasheed, “Energy and macronutrient intake and dietary pattern among school children in Bahrain: A cross-sectional study,” Nutrition Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, article no. 62, 2011.
[19] R. Guthold, M. J. Cowan, C. S. Autenrieth, L. Kann, and L. M. Riley, “Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among Schoolchildren: A 34-Country Comparison,” Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 157, no. 1, pp. 43–e1, 2010.
[20] P. Hamar, S. Biddle, I. Soós, B. Takács, and A. Huszár, “The prevalence of sedentary behaviours and physical activity in Hungarian youth,” European Journal of Public Health, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 85–90, 2010.
[21] A. P. Hills, L. B. Andersen, and N. M. Byrne, “Physical activity and obesity in children,” British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 45, no. 11, pp. 866–870, 2011.
[22] J. O. Hill and J. C. Peters, “Environmental contributions to the obesity epidemic,” Science, vol. 280, no. 5368, pp. 1371–1374, 1998.
[23] J. P. Koplan, C. T. Liverman, and V. A. Kraak, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C, 2004.
[24] C. A. Loucaides, R. Jago, and M. Theophanous, “Physical activity and sedentary behaviours in Greek-Cypriot children and adolescents: A cross-sectional study,” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 8, article no. 90, 2011.
[25] A. E. Mark, W. F. Boyce, and I. Janssen, “Television viewing, computer use and total screen time in Canadian youth,” Paediatrics & Child Health, vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 595–599, 2006.
[26] N. Mikki, H. F. Abdul-Rahim, Z. Shi, and G. Holmboe-Ottesen, “Dietary habits of Palestinian adolescents and associated sociodemographic characteristics in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron governorates,” Public Health Nutrition, vol. 13, no. 9, pp. 1419–1429, 2010.
[27] Fact Sheet. United Arab Emirates, Ministry of Health. Global School-based Student Health Survey United Arab Emirates, 2010.
[28] A. O. Musaiger and H. M. Al-Hazzaa, “Prevalence and risk factors associated with nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean region,” Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 5, pp. 199–217, 2012.
[29] A. O. Musaiger, M. Al-Mannai, R. Tayyem et al., “Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in seven Arab Countries: A cross-cultural study,” Journal of Obesity, vol. 2012, Article ID 981390, 2012.
[30] A. O. Musaiger and W. B. Gregory, “Profile of body composition of school children (6-18y) in Bahrain,” International Journal of Obesity, vol. 24, no. 9, pp. 1093–1096, 2000.
[31] H. Qotba and A. N. Al-Isa, “Anthropometric measuremnets and dietary habits of schoolchildren in Qatar,” International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 1–5, 2007.
[32] G. C. Rampersaud, M. A. Pereira, B. L. Girard, J. Adams, and J. D. Metzl, “Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents,” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 105, no. 5, pp. 743–760, 2005.
[33] H. F. Saadi, N. Nagelkerke, S. Benedict et al., “Predictors and relationships of serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D concentration with bone turnover markers, bone mineral density, and vitamin D receptor genotype in Emirati women,” Bone, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 1136–1143, 2006.
[34] M. Sánchez, Evaluación del estado de salud bucodental y surelación con estilos de vida saludables en la provincia de Salamanca. Tese de doutoramento. Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 2008; 194.
[35] M. B. Schwartz and R. Puhl, “Childhood obesity: A societal problem to solve,” Obesity Reviews, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 57–71, 2003.
[36] R. S. Strauss and H. A. Pollack, “Social marginalization of overweight children,” JAMA Pediatrics, vol. 157, no. 8, pp. 746–752, 2003.
[37] T. Tammelin, U. Ekelund, J. Remes, and S. Näyhä, “Physical activity and sedentary behaviors among finnish youth,” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 1067–1074, 2007
[38] S. A. Washi and M. B. Ageib, “Poor diet quality and food habits are related to impaired nutritional status in 13- to 18-year-old adolescents in Jeddah,” Nutrition Research, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 527–534, 2010.
[39] World Health Organization, Information Series on School Health. Document 9. 2003.
[40] World Health Organization, Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. Technical Report Series 916. Geneva, Switzerland, 2002.