Prevalence of Obesity and Screening for Diabetes Among Secondary School Students
Keywords:
Prevalence-Obesity-Overweight-Diabetes Mellitus- School ChildrenAbstract
Objective: There is an increasing trend of obesity in children and adolescent globally. The objectives of this study were to identify the prevalence of overweight and obesity among students from secondary schools and to determine the mean random blood sugar (RBS) for the overweight and obese students.Â
Methods: This was a cross sectional study. All secondary schools that were scheduled for visit by the School Health Team, Taiping in July 2016 were included. A standardized data collection sheet was used to collect the data. Overweight and obesity were defined based on WHO 2007 reference for BMI-for-age criteria. Random blood glucose was checked for overweight and obese students.
Results: A total of 184 school students consented and participated. 128 (69.6%) were female and 90 (48.9%) were Malays. The mean weight and height were 56.21 kg and 1.61 m respectively with BMI of 21.49 kg/m2. Overall, the prevalence of obese and overweight were 12.5% and 10.9 % respectively. No significant difference found among sex and races. RBS readings among overweight and obese students were within normal range with mean of 5.95 (0.67) mmol/l (range between 4.60 – 7.70 mmol/l)   Â
Conclusion: The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was high among the students. However, there was no prevalence of Type II diabetes mellitus among them.
References
Ogden, C.L., et al. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States 2011-2012. The Journal of the American Medical Association 2014; 311(8): 806-814.
Currie, C. Inequalities in young people's health. Health Behaviour in School-age Children study, International Report survey 2005-2006. Copenhagen WHO regional office for Europe, Health policy for children and adolescence.2008.
WHO. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. WHO.2009.
Priya, I.M. Berita terkini kesihatan di Malaysia 2010. Retrieved 24th March 2016. http://www.konsumerkini.net.my/v1/index.php/berita-terkini/
Fara Wahida Rezali, Yit Siew Chin, and B.N.M. Yusof. Obesity-related behaviors of Malaysian adolescents: a sample from Kajang district of Selangor state. Nutr Res Pract 2012; 6(5): 458-465.
GR Lekhraj Rampal, S.M.S., Sanjay Rampal, Daniel Wong Yi Jie, Chow Poh Lee, Liew Jer Shya, Shum Yong Shun. Prevalence of Overweight among Secondary School Students in Klang District, Selangor. Mal J Nutr 2007; 13(1): 1-8.
Mahaletchumy Alagappan, L.R., Zalilah Mohd Sharif, Kalaiselvam Thevandran. . Prevalence of overweight/obesity and its associated factors among secondary school students in Batang Padang District. Perak MJM, 2015; 70.
Kamil Abidalhussain Aboshkair, S.B.A., Kok Lian Yee, Bahaman Bin Abu Samah,. Assessment of Weight Status of Secondary School Children in Selangor, Malaysia. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences 2011; 5(9): 1675-1682.
Institute for Public Health. National Health and Morbidity Survey 2011 (NHMS 2011). Vol. II: Non Communicable Diseases 2011.
Institute for Public Health. National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015 (NHMS 2015). Vol. II: Non Communicable Diseases 2015.
Kasmini K, I.M., Fatimah A, HanafiahS,IranH&AsmahBeeMN Prevalence of overweight and obese school children aged between 7 to 16 years among the 3 major ethnic groups in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 1997; 6(3): 172-174.
Hajian-Tilaki, K.O., P. Sajjadi and A. Razavi, . Prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated risk factors in urban primary-school children in Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 2011; 17(2).
Kiefer I, R.T., Kunze M. Eating and dieting differences in men and women. The Journal of Men's Health & Gender 2005; 2(2): 194-201.
Rodolfo, F.F. The burden of obesity in Asia: challenges in assessment, prevention and management. Asia Pacific. J Clin Nutr 2002; 11: S676-S680.
Katz D.L., V.Y.N., D. Kennedy, et al., . Overall Nutritional Quality Index Version 1. Reference Manual. Prevention Research Center. Yale University School of Medicine 2007.
Wee BS, P.B., Bulgiba A, Ismail MN, Ruzita AT, Hills AP. Risk of metabolic syndrome among children living in metropolitan Kuala Lumpur: a case control study. BMC Public Health 2011 May 18(11).
Panamonta O1, T.N., Panamonta M. Prevalence of type II diabetes and metabolic syndrome among overweight school children in Khon Kaen, Thailand. J Med Assoc Thai 2010 93(1): 56-60.
Phatale, P.P.a.H. Prevalence of pre-diabetes, diabetes, pre-hypertension, and hypertension in children weighing more than normal. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 2012; 16(2): S483-S485.
Elham Al Amiri, M.A., Abdishakur Abdulle, Nibal Al Bitar, Elham Zaki Afandi, Monira Parish and Gassan Darwiche. The prevalence, risk factors, and screening measure for prediabetes and diabetes among Emirati overweight/obese children and adolescents. BMC Public Health 2015; 15: 1298.
