Factors Associated with Obesity Among Palestinian University Students in West Bank

Obesity among university students

Authors

  • Manal Badrasawi Palestine polytechnic university
  • Souzan Zidan Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Hebron University, Hebron, West Bank, Palestine
  • Azza Dabous Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, An-Najah National University, Tulkarm, West Bank, Palestine.
  • Monjed Samuh Applied Mathematics and Physics Department, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, West Bank, Palestine.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22317/imj.v7i3.1248

Abstract

Objective: This aims to explore the prevalence of obesity and overweight among Palestinian students in universities, and their relationship with sociodemographic factors, dietary habits, psychosocial factors, and physical activity level.

Methods: A total sample of 1243 students, 772 (62.1%) females and 471 (37.9%) males, were included in the final analysis. The nutritional status was assessed using anthropometric measurements and dietary habits. Weight status was defined according to BMI WHO cut off points. Anxiety, stress, and depression were assessed using Arabic version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. A short form of the Arabic version of IPAQ questionnaire was used to assess physical activity level.

Results: The results revealed that obesity prevalence was 3.3% and overweight was 16.10% among the students. Obesity was significantly more common among males, and those who are studying scientific specialization. Weigh status was significantly related to anxiety (p<0.05). Among the psychosocial factors, students with normal weight had significantly higher anxiety scores than obese or overweight students (p<0.05). Obesity and overweight were significantly associated with lower self-satisfaction (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity and overweight was low among the study sample. In spite of this, there is a need to promote intervention educational programs to improve their lifestyle in terms of physical activity and dietary habits.

References

Stevens GA, Singh GM, Lu Y, et al. National, regional, and global trends in adult overweight and obesity prevalences. Popul Health Metr 2012; 10: 22.

Haidar YM, Cosman BC. Obesity epidemiology. Clin Colon Rectal Surg 2011; 24: 205–210.

Popkin BM, Adair LS, Ng SW. Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutr Rev 2012; 70: 3–21.

Poobalan A, Aucott L. Obesity Among Young Adults in Developing Countries: A Systematic Overview. Curr Obes Rep 2016; 5: 2–13.

Nwachukwu DC, Nwagha UI, Obikili EN, et al. Assessment of body mass index and blood pressure among university students in, Enugu, South East, Nigeria. Niger J Med 2010; 19: 148–152.

Abolfotouh MA, Bassiouni FA, Mounir GM, Fayyad RC. Health-related lifestyles and risk behaviours among students living in Alexandria University Hostels. East Mediterr Health J 2007; 13: 376–391.

Bakr EM, Ismail NA, Mahaba HM. Impact of life style on the nutritional status of medical students at Ain Shams University. J Egypt Public Health Assoc 2002; 77: 29–49.

Al Qauhiz NM. Obesity among Saudi Female University students: Dietary habits and health behaviors. J Egypt Public Health Assoc 2010; 85: 45–59.

Al-Kilani H, Waly M, Yousef R. Trends of obesity and overweight among college students in Oman: A cross sectional study. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 2012; 12: 69–76.

Al-Isa AN. Dietary and socio-economic factors associated with obesity among Kuwaiti college men. Br J Nutr 1999; 82: 369–374.

Pengpid S, Peltzer K. Prevalence of overweight/obesity and central obesity and its associated factors among a sample of university students in India. Obes Res Clin Pract 2014; 8: e558–70.

Field AE, Barnoya J, Colditz GA. Epidemiology and health and economic consequences of obesity. In: Wadden TA, Stunkard AJ, editors. Handbook of obesity treatment. New York: Guilford Press 2002, 3–18.

De Wit L, Luppino F, Van Straten A, Penninx B, Zitman F, Cuijpers P. Depression and obesity: A meta-analysis of community-based studies. Psychiatry Res 2010; 178: 230–5.

Anderson SE, Cohen P, Naumova EN, Must A. Association of depression and anxiety disorders with weight change in a prospective community-based study of children followed up into adulthood. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006; 160: 285–91.

Gariepy G, Nitka D, Schmitz N. The association between obesity and anxiety in the population: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Obes (Lond) 2010; 34: 407–19.

Scott KL, Bruffaerts R, Simon GE, et al. Obesity and mental disorders in the general population: results from the world mental health surveys. Int J Obes (Lond) 2008; 32: 192–200.

Blaine B. Does depression cause obesity? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies of depression and weight control. J Health Psychol 2008; 13: 1190–7.

Khamaiseh A, AL Bashtawy M. Prevalence of Obesity and Physical Inactivity Behaviors among Nursing Students in Mutah University, Jordan. WJMS 2015; 12: 95–102.

Lohr SL. Sampling: Design and Analysis. 2nd ed. Boston: Brooks/Cole 2010.

Lee RD, Nieman DC. Nutritional assessment. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill 2013.

WHO. Body Mass index – report. 2018. http:// www.euro.who.int/en/healthtopics/ disease-prevention/nutrition/a-healthy-lifestyle/body-mass-indexbmi. [Assessed 06 September 2019].

Helou K, El Helou N, Mahfouz M, Mahfouz Y, Salameh P, Harmouche-Karaki M. Validity and reliability of an adapted Arabic version of the long international physical activity questionnaire. BMC Public Health 2017; 18:49.

Moussa MT, Lovibond P, Laube R, Megahead HA. Psychometric properties of an Arabic version of the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS). Res Social Work Prac 2017; 27: 375–86.

Arroyo Izaga M, Rocandio Pablo AM, Ansotegui Alday L, Pascual Apalauza E, Salces Beti I, Rebato Ochoa E. Diet quality, overweight and obesity in university students. Nutr Hosp 2006; 21: 673–9.

Yahia N, Achkar A, Abdallah A, Rizk S. Eating habits and obesity among Lebanese university students. Nutr J 2008; 7: 32–36.

Bertsias G, Mammas I, Linardakis M, Kafatos A. Overweight and Obesity in Relation to Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Medical Students in Crete, Greece. BMC Public Health 2003; 3: 3.

Musaiger AO, Lloyd OL, Al‐Neyadi SM, Bener AB. Lifestyle factors associated with obesity among male university students in the United Arab Emirates. Nutri Food Sci 2003; 33: 145–147.

Field AE, Cheung L, Wolf AM, Herzog DB, Gortmaker SL, Colditz GA. Exposure to the mass media and weight concerns among girls. Pediatrics 1999;103: E36.

Goswami S, Sachdeva S, Sachdeva R. Body image satisfaction among female college students. Ind Psychiatry J. 2012; 21: 168–172.

Sira N, White CP. Individual and Familial Correlates of Body Satisfaction in Male and Female College Students. Journal of American College Health 2010; 58, 507–514.

Johnson F, Wardle J. Dietary Restraint, Body Dissatisfaction, and Psychological Distress: A Prospective Analysis. Journal of Abnormal

Psychology 2005; 114, 119–125.

Galore SR, Walker C, Chandler A. Brief Communication: dietary habits of first-year medical students as determined by computer

software analysis of three-day food records. J Am Coll Nutr 1993; 12: 517– 529.

Wansink B. Environmental factors that increase the food intake and consumption volume of unknowing consumers. Annu Rev Nutr 2004; 24: 455–479.

Elfhag K, Rössner S, Carlsson AM. Degree of body weight in obesity and Rorschach personality aspects of mental distress. Eat Weight Disord 2004; 9:35–43.

McLaren L, Beck CA, Patten SB, Fick GH, Adair CE. The relationship between body mass index and mental health. A population-based study of the effects of the definition of mental health. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2008; 43: 63–71.

AlQahtani AA, Nahar S, AlAhmari SM, AlQahtani KA. Association between obesity and mental disorders among male students of King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. Saudi J Obesity 2015; 3: 48–54.

Friedman KE, Reichmann SK, Costanzo PR, Musante GJ. Body image partially mediates the relationship between obesity and psychological distress. Obes Res 2002; 10: 33–41.

Askari J, Hassanbeigi A, Khosravi HM, Malek M, Hassanbeigi D, Pourmovahed Z, Alagheband M. The Relationship Between Obesity and

Depression. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 2013; 84: 796 – 800.

Nicholas SE. The Effect of Stress on Undergraduate College Students in Relation to Eating Out Behaviors and Weight Status. 2016. Dissertations - ALL. 480. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/480.

Gupta S, Ray TG, Saha I. Overweight, obesity and influence of stress on body weight among undergraduate medical students. Indian J Community Med 2009; 34:255–7.

Torres SJ, Nowson CA. Relationship between stress, eating behavior, and obesity. Nutrition 2007; 23: 887–894.

Lykouras L, Michopoulos J. Anxiety disorders and obesity. Psychiatriki. 2011; 22: 307–313.

Warburton DER, Nicol CW, Bredin SSD. Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence. CMAJ 2006;174(6):801–9.

Rao CR, Bb D, Das N, Rajan V, Bhogun M, Gupta A. Practice of physical activity among future doctors: A cross sectional analysis. Int J Prev Med 2012;3(5):365–9.

Alkahtani S, Awad N. Comparing the physical activity patterns of male and female students in the preparatory year in Saudi Arabia. J Obes Weight Loss Ther 2016;6.

Yousif MM, Kaddam LA, Humeda HS. Correlation between physical activity, eating behavior and obesity among Sudanese medical students Sudan. BMC Nutrition 2019; 5. doi:10.1186/s40795-019-0271-1.

Downloads

Published

2023-10-29

How to Cite

1.
Badrasawi M, Zidan S, Dabous A, Samuh M. Factors Associated with Obesity Among Palestinian University Students in West Bank : Obesity among university students . Iraq Med J [Internet]. 2023 Oct. 29 [cited 2024 Nov. 25];7(3). Available from: https://mail.iraqmedj.org/index.php/imj/article/view/1248

Issue

Section

Articles