Physical activity, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits among Saudi adolescents relative to age, gender and region

Al-Hazzaa, Al-Sobayel, Musaiger, Abahussain, Qahwaji

Description

Few lifestyle factors have been simultaneously studied and reported for Saudi adolescents. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to report on the prevalence of physical activity, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits among Saudi adolescents and to examine the interrelationships among these factors using representative samples drawn from three major cities in Saudi Arabia. Methods This school-based cross-sectional study was conducted during the years 2009-2010 in three cities: Al-Khobar, Jeddah and Riyadh. The participants were 2908 secondary-school males (1401) and females (1507) aged 14-19 years, randomly selected using a multistage stratified sampling technique. Measurements included weight, height, sedentary behaviors (TV viewing, playing video games and computer use), physical activity using a validated questionnaire and dietary habits. Results A very high proportion (84% for males and 91.2% for females) of Saudi adolescents spent more than 2 hours on screen time daily and almost half of the males and three-quarters of the females did not meet daily physical activity guidelines. The majority of adolescents did not have a daily intake of breakfast, fruit, vegetables and milk. Females were significantly ( p < 0.05) more sedentary, much less physically active, especially with vigorous physical activity, and there were fewer days per week when they consumed breakfast, fruit, milk and diary products, sugar-sweetened drinks, fast foods and energy drinks than did males. However, the females' intake of French fries and potato chips, cakes and donuts, and candy and chocolate was significantly ( p < 0.05) higher than the males'. Screen time was significantly ( p < 0.05) correlated inversely with the intake of breakfast, vegetables and fruit. Physical activity had a significant ( p < 0.05) positive relationship with fruit and vegetable intake but not with sedentary behaviors. Conclusions The high prevalence of sedentary behaviors, physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits among Saudi adolescents is a major public health concern. There is an urgent need for national policy promoting active living and healthy eating and reducing sedentary behaviors among children and adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

Sujets

• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
• Diet (nutrition)
• Adolescents (band)
• Saudi Arabia

Informations

• Publié par: biomed
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 14
• Langue: English

Extrait

AlHazzaaet al.International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity2011,8:140 http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/8/1/140

R E S E A R C H

Open Access

Physical activity, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits among Saudi adolescents relative to age, gender and region 1,2* 3 4 5 6 Hazzaa M AlHazzaa , Nada A Abahussain , Hana I AlSobayel , Dina M Qahwaji and Abdulrahman O Musaiger

Abstract Background:Few lifestyle factors have been simultaneously studied and reported for Saudi adolescents. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to report on the prevalence of physical activity, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits among Saudi adolescents and to examine the interrelationships among these factors using representative samples drawn from three major cities in Saudi Arabia. Methods:This schoolbased crosssectional study was conducted during the years 20092010 in three cities: Al Khobar, Jeddah and Riyadh. The participants were 2908 secondaryschool males (1401) and females (1507) aged 1419 years, randomly selected using a multistage stratified sampling technique. Measurements included weight, height, sedentary behaviors (TV viewing, playing video games and computer use), physical activity using a validated questionnaire and dietary habits. Results:A very high proportion (84% for males and 91.2% for females) of Saudi adolescents spent more than 2 hours on screen time daily and almost half of the males and threequarters of the females did not meet daily physical activity guidelines. The majority of adolescents did not have a daily intake of breakfast, fruit, vegetables and milk. Females were significantly (p< 0.05) more sedentary, much less physically active, especially with vigorous physical activity, and there were fewer days per week when they consumed breakfast, fruit, milk and diary products, sugarsweetened drinks, fast foods and energy drinks than did males. However, the females’intake of French fries and potato chips, cakes and donuts, and candy and chocolate was significantly (p< 0.05) higher than the males’. Screen time was significantly (p< 0.05) correlated inversely with the intake of breakfast, vegetables and fruit. Physical activity had a significant (p< 0.05) positive relationship with fruit and vegetable intake but not with sedentary behaviors. Conclusions:The high prevalence of sedentary behaviors, physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits among Saudi adolescents is a major public health concern. There is an urgent need for national policy promoting active living and healthy eating and reducing sedentary behaviors among children and adolescents in Saudi Arabia. Keywords:Physical activity, sedentary behaviors, dietary habits, lifestyle factors, adolescents, Saudi Arabia

Background Globally, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of death, killing more people each year than all other causes combined [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Report 2002, the

* Correspondence: [e-mail] 1 Director of Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Department of PE and Movement Sciences, College of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article

most important risks of NCDs included high blood pres sure, high concentrations of cholesterol in the blood, inadequate intake of fruit and vegetables, being over weight or obese, physical inactivity and tobacco use [2]. Five of these risk factors are closely related to diet and physical activity. Thus, it is well recognized that diet and physical activity play important roles in maintaining health and preventing diseases [3]. Findings from a recent cardiovascular risk study among young Finns

© 2011 AlHazzaa et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.